


Side by Side

by BadassBurgess



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Love, Politics, Romance, Upstead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 39,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26045764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadassBurgess/pseuds/BadassBurgess
Summary: Hailey Upton and Jay Halstead are Secret Service Agents, brought together to head up one of the most important jobs in the country. They are tasked with protecting Congresswoman Kim Burgess, who could become the first ever female President of the United States. (AU. Upstead. Burzek.)
Relationships: Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton, Kim Burgess/Adam Ruzek
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

Special Agent Hailey Upton of the Secret Service was reporting for duty to take a job she hadn't expected to get, under circumstances that she wouldn't have wanted to benefit from.

"Agent Upton?" a stern-faced woman with long grey hair asked her as she walked into an office on the ground floor of one of Chicago's most expensive hotels.

"Chief Platt?" Upton asked. Platt was who she had been told to report to.

"That's right," the Chief said stiffly.

Beside her was a very attractive man with short brown hair. He looked to be in his early thirties, Upton thought as she let her eyes linger on him for a second. There was a somewhat reluctant smile on his face. The gesture came out of politeness, but in truth these were not smiling circumstances.

"I'm sorry about the loss of agents Jin and Willhite," Upton said, standing to attention.

Platt's reaction was barely noticeable, but Upton's job was to pick up on things that were barely noticeable. The Chief appreciated the fact that she had taken the trouble to find out the names of the two agents who had been killed the night before when a cement truck had hit their stationary car from behind at full speed, crushing it against a truck that had been parked in front of them. Jin and Willhite had been killed instantly, which may at least have been merciful. The cement driver had been on his phone instead of paying attention to the road at the time of the accident. Upton hoped he would pay for what he had done with a life sentence.

"This is Agent Jay Halstead," Platt said. "He's going to be the secondary agent to you on Congresswoman Burgess' detail. I assume you were told you're taking the role as her primary agent?"

"Yes, ma'am," Upton said. Congresswoman Burgess today maybe, she thought, but what about tomorrow? It was Presidential election day, and Burgess had possibly a 40% chance of winning the contest for the Republican party, if the latest polling was to be believed. Upton had voted for Brian Kelton, the Democrat candidate. But her personal opinions had nothing to do with the task she had been assigned. The life of Congresswoman Burgess was about to become her responsibility, which she would defend with her own life without hesitation if necessary. That was the job.

"Good to meet you, Agent Upton," Halstead said to her.

"Hailey," she allowed. "It's good to meet you too."

"Right, to business," Platt said, tiring quickly of the pleasantries. "The Congresswoman and her husband are in her suite on the top floor. They'll be leaving soon to cast their votes. You know the kind of media scrum that entails, so you'd better get up there, introduce yourselves, and get ready to leave. Obviously we have agents already on scene at the polling place. I'll have the car brought around now so that it's ready when they want to leave. The police team know you're coming up."

"Got it, ma'am, thank you," Upton confirmed. Nothing else needed to be said. She and Halstead walked out of the office, through another door out into the lobby, and headed for the elevators. There were several uniformed police officers scattered around the place, forming the first ring of security around Ms Burgess.

"Did you vote for Kelton?" Upton asked her new second-in-command.

"Yes, ma'am," Halstead said. "You?"

"Yep. And you don't have to ma'am me. Hailey will do. I assume the way you voted isn't going to give you a problem with this assignment?"

"Absolutely not," Halstead said, sounding a bit offended that his professionalism was being questioned. It was exactly the kind of reaction Upton had wanted to get. She had asked the question to test how he responded, not because she had been in doubt about the answer she would get from him.

"Good," she said.

As they neared the bank of elevators, a cop who was standing guard pushed the button to call one for them. It turned out that there was already a car at the lobby level, and it's doors immediately slid open.

"Where are you from?" Upton asked as they walked into the elevator. She pushed the button for the top floor.

"Right here in Chicago," Halstead said. "It sounds like you are too, judging by your accent."

"That's right. I grew up near Greektown."

"Condolences," Halstead said deadpan.

The unexpected and effectively delivered humour made Upton burst out laughing. It was lucky that it was just the two of them in the elevator because it was hardly appropriate behaviour for a Secret Service agent while on duty.

"Good to know you've got a sense of humour. I think we'll get along okay," Halstead said.

"I think so too. But joking can wait until later," Upton said, feeling the elevator slowing down. Remarkably, it had gone all the way to the top floor without stopping, saving them the trouble of having to tell anyone that they couldn't get on. The top floor was currently off limits to anyone not in the Burgess party, the Secret Service, or the police.

The elevator doors opened on the top floor. Several police officers were on guard the top floor's elevator lobby in case anyone came up who wasn't supposed to be there. Forewarned, they did nothing to impede the two Secret Service agents.

"Just down there," one of them said, pointing to a nearby open door to one of the lavish suites.

"Thank you," Upton said. From the suite they had been directed to she could hear several people talking at once. It was apparently a hive of activity, not that there was any surprise in that. At least two year's work had to have gone into this day for the Congresswoman, all for it to likely to not be enough according to the polls, Upton thought. If that was the case, this assignment would prove to be a very short one.

"First indications are that turnout looks high," a man with a very gravelly voice was saying as Upton and Halstead walked into the suite, entering into its living room area.

"Is that good for us?" Congresswoman Burgess asked. She was sitting with her husband on a comfortable leather couch in front of a big TV that was showing an election day special news show.

"Looks like a lot of young people in line, so that's possibly not good for us," gravelly voice admitted. He was a man in his fifties with short greying hair, sitting at a large round table in the middle of the room with a laptop open in front of him. There were several younger staffers also at the table.

Congresswoman Burgess turned to look at him, which brought her gaze onto the two unfamiliar Secret Service agents. Their presence distracted her. "Who are you?" she demanded.

Oh great, no one bothered to pass on the bad news, Upton thought. It was unfortunate, but not particularly surprising. The Service could organise the most elaborate security operation down to the most minute of details, but if someone was required to use some old fashioned common sense? Forget about it.

"I'm Agent Upton, ma'am. I'm going to be your new primary agent. This is Agent Halstead, who is my second-in-command."

"What happened to the other two? Jin, and... I've forgotten her name."

"Agents Jin and Willhite were killed last night, ma'am. They were travelling together after their shift when their car was hit from behind by a truck and crushed."

"Damn. I'm sorry to hear that. That's awful news," Burgess said. With that she looked at her husband, Adam Ruzek. "Let's hope that's not an omen, huh?"

Upton could barely believe what she had just heard. She clenched her fists at her sides to help her control her anger. Two agents were dead and all this bitch cared about was whether it was a bad omen for her stupid election chances. Looking at Halstead, she saw that he was equally pissed off by the cold-heartedness.

Ruzek got up and looked at the two agents. "Sorry to hear that news. I guess it's time for us to leave?"

"We're ready when you are, sir," Upton said without sounding too icy about it. Christ, they're a caring pair, she thought sarcastically. Their attitude wasn't a great surprise, though. Ruzek was a multi-millionaire who had made his money on Wall Street, and still had interests there. Burgess had been a chemist before going on to start her own chemical company, which she had ended up selling for several million dollars. Along the way she had met and married Ruzek, who had brought with him the power and influence that had helped her when she had decided to get into politics and run for congress, and after success there, for President. Now she had a chance at being the first female President, at only thirty-nine years old. At least that was how Upton understood the story. The bottom line for her was that these were the kind of people who cared more about taxes, stock prices and profit margins than they did about people. That was why she couldn't have considered voting Burgess even without the so far unpleasant experience of actually meeting her.

"Right then, let's get it done," Burgess said, getting up. "Hank, you stay here and keep me up to date with anything important that happens."

"Kim, relax. It's going to be hours before we even think about getting an indication as to which was it has gone. And you need to put on a good show for the cameras," said the man with the gravelly voice who was apparently called Hank. To Upton he seemed like someone who wouldn't take crap from anyone. He looked and sounded like he could be a nasty son of a bitch if he wanted to. Perfect for a campaign manager or a chief of staff. Or both, she supposed.

"Yes, you're right," Burgess said as Ruzek passed her a thick red jacket. She put it on while he donned his dark blue suit jacket, apparently intent on braving the November cold like that.

"Right, let's go. Lead the way," Burgess instructed Upton after making sure she had her phone. She took a pair of black leather gloves out of a coat pocket and put them on.

On the way out of the suite, Upton used the small microphone at her wrist to inform the rest of the team that they were on way down with Chemist, the code name for Burgess, and Trader, the code name for Ruzek. She had memorised them earlier. Halstead fell in step with her, far enough ahead of their subject to speak quietly and avoid being overheard.

"Hailey, can you believe she just said that?" he asked. "That omen comment."

"No, Jay, I can't. The less I say about it the better," Upton hissed back at him, conveying how much it had angered her. "Hopefully we're only on this job today."

"Seconded," he said as they headed for the elevators.

As had happened down in the lobby, one of the cops pressed the button to summon an elevator for them. This time there was no car on their floor, they were going to have to wait for one.

"Have you voted, Agent Upton?" Congresswoman Burgess asked when she and her husband caught up to them.

"Yes, ma'am," Upton said. Please ask who I voted for, she silently begged, her face impassive as she took in the rather smug luck on Burgess' face.

"Did you vote for me?" The smugness actually increased with the delivery of the question.

"No, ma'am, I did not," Upton took great pleasure in saying, although she spoke with no emotion in her voice.

An awkward silence fell on the group. Burgess looked like she had been slapped across the face, which amused Upton greatly. She also noticed the look on Halstead's face. He was standing in such a position that neither Burgess or Ruzek could see him unless they chose to turn and look at him. But Upton could see him, and she could tell that he was trying not to laugh. At least I'm going to get along well with him, she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

It was no secret to the media which polling place Congresswoman Burgess was going to use to vote. All manner of people from TV, print and online news outlets were in attendance to get their pictures and footage, and if they were really lucky, a comment.

For the Secret Service, this kind of public appearance was a pain in the ass. The polling place was on the ground floor of an office building. Although agents had been on site all morning, Agent Upton was still not happy about having her subject around so many people, entering a building that couldn't be one hundred per-cent guaranteed as secure, during a volatile time such as an ongoing election. Her senses were on their highest state of alert when she got out of the front seat of the car, just outside of the polling place's entrance.

Agents who had been awaiting their arrival were on hand to open the two rear doors for Ms Burgess and Mr Ruzek.

Using her wrist microphone to confirm their arrival, Upton was experienced enough to keep close enough to Burgess to be able to protect her from any attack before it had a chance to do her any harm, yet to also leave enough distance to give the Presidential candidate some space to walk with her husband without things looking crowded. Scanning the scene, she saw nothing threatening at the moment.

Agent Halstead had followed along close behind in a second car with another couple of agents. He was quickly out and on hand, taking up protection duty with Ruzek for now.

Before the group even started walking towards the polling place, Upton could hear countless cameras clicking away at a frantic pace while journalists shouted questions in the vain hope of getting an answer.

"Ms Burgess! How do you like your chances?"

"Have you lost the election, Congresswoman?"

"Do you feel confident?"

Walking near to Burgess, Upton had to admit to feeling some admiration for the woman she so far didn't personally like at all. The way she put a warm and genuine-looking smile on her face and gave a wave to the cameras despite the negative questions showed political nous. The questions went unanswered.

There were more TV cameras waiting inside the polling place. The moment the potential next President and her husband cast their votes had to be captured live. While they voted, Burgess and Halstead kept a bit more distance to give them a little privacy.

"Do you think she's going to win?" Halstead asked under his breath, standing next to Upton.

"Nah," she muttered back. "She's ten points behind in the polls. Those polling companies screwed up big time last election. You really thing they would let that happen again?"

"Good point. It would make them look ridiculous. Besides, how could enough people buy into the rhetoric she throws out?"

Upton grunted a laugh. "Well, exactly."

With the voting area cleared out ahead of time, it only took Burgess and Ruzek a minute or so to cast their votes. When they were done, Upton and Halstead smoothly moved back into position to walk with them back outside.

"Maybe we'll win Illinois by two votes?" Burgess was saying to her husband.

"I voted for the other guy," Ruzek said, making her laugh.

Overhearing the exchange, Upton thought it was probably a good look for the TV audience to see Burgess smiling and laughing, having a good time. She was no politician, but she sensed that this public appearance was going quite well for the woman she was assigned to protect.

Emerging back outside, heading for the waiting car, Upton heard the cameras go into a frenzy again. The shouted questions also resumed, but once more they were all ignored. The time for campaigning was over. It was all about the result now. To that end, Burgess, Ruzek and Upton got into the lead car to head back to the hotel. They would remain there throughout the rest of the day, through the night, possibly until the early hours of the morning. By then either Brian Kelton or Kim Burgess would be confirmed as the next President of the United States.

* * *

Arriving back on the top floor of the hotel that the Burgess camp was using, Agent Upton felt tension in the air. There were people walking around talking to each other, while others were on phone calls or using the internet on their phones. None of them looked happy. It didn't test her powers of perception to pick up on the fact that they were starting to think they had lost the election.

"How's it going, Hank? Give me some good news," Burgess said as she led the arrivals into the suite's living area where she had been before, taking off her gloves and coat.

"Good news? I'm hearing that the postal voting might be good for us," said the man with the gravelly voice. He was still sat at the table with his laptop, Upton saw. "The bad news is pretty much everyone we have on the ground in key states is saying that there are a lot of young people turning out. Social media on fire for Kelton."

"God damn it, that app is poison," Burgess hissed under her breath.

"You should say something to the team, honey," Ruzek said. "Be positive. Keep everything going, and we can get over the line."

Husband and wife shared a brief hug. Regardless of what she thought of them or their politics, Upton could tell that they loved each other deeply. If she was so inclined she might have found it a little endearing. But she wasn't so inclined. With no prospect of immediate danger or concern, she moved over to the right side of the room and took up a position standing with her back against the wall. Halstead came and stood beside her. They remained silent, for Burgess was calling her people together.

"Everyone! Gather round please!" the congresswoman called out, standing next to the table where Hank was sitting.

Conversations were cut short, phone calls were abruptly ended, and those who had been outside the suite quickly came back in. Within moments the entire staff was there, ready to listen.

"Early indications aren't the best for us," Burgess conceded to open her little speech. "But the polls haven't been open long. In some states they're not even open yet. We're not going to let our heads drop. This thing is still there for us to win. We're going to do everything we can to co-ordinate with our people on the ground to keep getting as many people into those polling places to vote for us as possible. You've all done so much. Let's have one more big push until we're over the line. We are going to win, and we're going to redesign, rebuild, and reclaim!"

Reinvigorated, everyone on the team had said the campaign slogan along with her. Hailey Upton had heard it more times than she cared to remember over the past few months. It seemed to her to have generated something of a cult-like mentality among supporters of Burgess, who had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Redesign the way America is run. Rebuild the economy. Reclaim America's position as the greatest country in the world. That was the depth, what little there was of it, behind the slogan.

As the staffers dispersed to get back to their work, Upton took out her phone and had a look at Twitter to see for herself what was going on. The top trends made her smile, particularly the third one.

The first one was: 'Vote Kelton'.

Second was: 'Kelton 2020'

The third one, the one she liked the most, was: 'RRR = KKK'

There was a widely-held belief on the political left that Republicans, and Burgess voters in particular, were racist. The trend drove that message home in a particularly striking manner, Upton thought.

"She's getting wrecked on Twitter," she said quietly to Halstead, showing him her phone.

"Ooof," he whispered back after reading the trends.

"You guys can have a seat over there," Hank called over to the two agents, pointing to a smaller table over by the doors that opened onto a balcony. Curtains were drawn across the doors. Upton figured that with plenty of cops on duty in the lobby, and more outside on the top floor near the elevator, she would get plenty of warning if she was required to spring into action. There would be no harm in sitting down and taking things a fraction easier. Besides, there was a lot of time to kill before the polls closed, let alone until results started to come in.

"Thanks," she said, walking over to the table with Halstead.

"I guess they want us out of sight and out of mind," Halstead said as they sat down.

"Suits me. That's exactly where I like to be."

"Exactly," he said. "So, what do you like to do with your time when you're not on duty?"

Upton smiled. "I try to catch a baseball game on the rare occasion the chance presents itself. Other than that, I'm a binge watcher of true crime documentaries. How about you?"

"I'm into baseball too. As for when I'm stuck in hotel rooms watching TV, I go for action movies rather than documentaries."

"Whatever passes the time, right?" Upton said. "Alright then, here goes. I suppose you're a Cubs fan?"

"Eww, no. White Sox. You?"

"I'm a Sox fan too!" Upton exclaimed. "For a moment I thought we were going to have a big problem."

"Me too," Halstead laughed.

Upton was enjoying getting to know a bit more about her new partner, not least because he was seriously hot. However, she was prevented from asking another question by Congresswoman Burgess, of all people, coming over to them. She looked kind of like she didn't know what to do with herself now that the campaigning was over.

"Guys, just so you know, there's food and drink available in the next suite along the hallway. Help yourselves if you want something."

"Oh, thank you, ma'am," Upton said, genuinely surprised by the kind thought.

"It's an awful feeling, not having your destiny in your own hands," Burgess said, to herself more than to the Secret Service agents.

Although she didn't feel much sympathy, Upton felt like she should say something that sounded sympathetic. It was the right thing to do. "One way or another, by this time tomorrow it will all be over," she offered. It didn't end up coming out sounding sympathetic after all.

"Hopefully it won't be over," Burgess said. "I'm looking for a beginning, not an ending."


	3. Chapter 3

Hailey Upton couldn't believe what she had witnessed over the past few hours. At the start of the evening, when the first polls had closed and the votes began to be counted, she had been pretty much certain that Brian Kelton was going to win the election. The media had been of the same opinion, that much had been clear from the news coverage that had constantly been on the suite's huge TV. At that time, the atmosphere in the suite had been akin to a funeral parlour.

As the night wore on, it had slowly started to appear that it might be not be smooth sailing for Kelton after all. The actual counts didn't seem to match what had been predicted. It hadn't been long before some states that had been predicted to go blue for Kelton had gone red for Burgess.

Approaching the end of the night, only Pennsylvania and Florida remained to declare their results. Such was the unexpected success for Burgess, Kelton needed both of them to go for him in order to win the electoral college vote and the election. He was quite clearly going to win the popular vote, but that was of no material value to him.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing here," Upton muttered to Jay Halstead. They had joined Burgess, Ruzek and the rest of the team in crowding around the TV. With both remaining states having been listed as too close to call for some time now, the only thing anyone could do was wait for the networks to make a call. Either state being called for Burgess would mean she was the next President.

"Come on! The last count they showed has us one per-cent ahead in Florida with almost all of the votes counted! What the hell are they waiting for?" The outburst came from Antonio Dawson, who was on the Burgess ticket as Vice President.

Upton got the impression that his outburst hadn't done Congresswoman Burgess any favours. Standing with her husband's arm around her waist, she looked like she could barely watch. In fact she looked like she might have a breakdown at any moment. Whether that was a surprise or not from someone who was running for President, Upton couldn't quite decide. On one hand, the President had to be capable of maintaining composure in any and all circumstances. But at the same, Burgess was right at the finish line of winning the most powerful job in the world, yet it could still be snatched away from her. If that wasn't allowed to make someone nervous, what was?

In a way, Upton was in the same situation. Primary agent to the President was a job that came to very few people. In a sense it was the top job in the Secret Service, despite the ranking hierarchy. She disagreed with Burgess politically, and so far didn't much care for her personally, but that didn't mean she had any intention of giving up the job she had been assigned to. Shortly, she could be personally responsible for the protection of the first female President in American history. The office itself made that job a huge honour, regardless of who held the office. Over in New York, Brian Kelton's primary agent would no doubt be thinking something similar. One of them was going to get the top job. The other was going to get reassigned to a duty of much lesser importance.

"Why are they not calling anything?" a staffer shouted.

On the TV, a female anchor had walked from the main desk across the studio to where the channel's team of so-called expert analysts were working. Her objective was to get an answer to the question that was on millions of people's minds: What the hell is going on?

Using carefully chosen words, she put the question to the man she approached in a more diplomatic manner.

"Well, Stacey, the counts are so close right now in Florida and Pennsylvania that we're not ready to make a call yet. What we cannot do is call this thing to early and potentially get it wrong. Votes are still being counted. We'll make a decision just as soon as we can."

"Not to put any pressure on you, but the entire world is waiting," Stacey said, laughing.

"No pressure at all," the guy said, sharing in the humour.

"No call yet on Florida or Pennsylvania. Back to you, Joe," Stacey said, handing over to her colleague back at the desk.

"Thanks, Stacey. As the tension continues to mount, we're going live to Washington, DC, to speak to Senator Andrew McCarthy. Senator, good evening."

The screen split in half, with the guest appearing on the right side. But in that moment, the eagle-eyed among the viewers had their attention attracted to the electoral college scoreboard at the bottom right of the screen. The total for Burgess changed, pushing her past the 270 vote winning post. Her colour of her bracket changed from red to gold. Upton noticed it right away. She imagined that everyone else did too, but for a second there was no reaction. It was as if everyone's minds needed that second to process what they were seeing. Then the room went wild in celebration. People roared in delight, while others jumped around and others hugged each other.

"Jesus Christ, she's done it," Jay Halstead said to Upton in disbelief as they watched on.

Not many things truly surprised Hailey Upton. She was an excellent Secret Service agent for exactly that reason. But she had spent most of the day not seriously considering for a minute that Burgess would win, yet it had just happened. America had it's first female President.

Looking at the President-elect, Upton saw that she was one of the few not celebrating like a maniac. Instead, she was sharing an embrace with her husband, who was talking to her quietly, passing on his intimate congratulations, presumably.

After the hug broke up, people crowded around Burgess, wanting to pass on their congratulations. Everyone was involved apart from the two agents. It wasn't becoming of their position to act like that. They could and should offer congratulations out of politeness, but in a simple and polite manner, when the opportunity presented itself.

Bottles of champagne appeared from somewhere, and a couple of staffers began pouring glasses for everyone. Ms Burgess was given the honour of receiving the first one.

"Drink?" one of the staffers asked eventually, offering a glass in the direction of Upton and Halstead to see if either of them were interested.

"We can't, thanks," Halstead said.

As the celebrations continued, Upton's thoughts turned to what was going to happen next. The Burgess camp had booked the United Center for their potential celebration. The arena would already be full of Burgess voters, now waiting for her to deliver a victory speech. Before long, the party would have to get on the road to go to the arena, which presented a lot of challenges to for the Secret Service. Luckily for Upton, all she had to be responsible for was giving a bit of notice of when the President-elect wished to leave, and then she had to stick to her like glue to keep her safe. Kim Burgess was now possibly the biggest potential assassination target in the country, and had to be protected accordingly.

"Guys! Listen up! They're going to call Pennsylvania!" Hank called out in his gravelly voice, redirecting everyone's attention back to the TV.

"Pennsylvania has also gone for President-elect Burgess," the anchor called Stacey announced as a graphic of the state, coloured red, appeared along with a picture of Burgess' smiling face. The room went into celebration mode again.

"How are you feeling?" Halstead asked Upton over the noise.

"Shocked, and worried for the country. I'm sure you are too since you told me you voted Kelton. But on the other hand, we're going to be the President's protection detail. It's a huge honour, and I'm already proud to have it."

"I don't think I could have put it any better than that," Halstead said. "I dreamed of getting onto the Presidential detail when I joined the Service. The only thing is, I'm not sure I'd have wanted it to be someone like..." He quickly shut up, noticing that the President-elect was coming over to them, her second glass of champagne in hand.

"Congratulations, Madam President-elect," Upton said formally.

"Thank you. That's the first time anyone has called me that," Burgess said with a rather self-satisfied smile on her face. Upton supposed she had a right to look that way. Her achievement was a remarkable one, there was no denying that.

"We'll need to leave for the United Center soon," Burgess said, making it sound like an instruction.

"Yes, ma'am. Would you like me to have the cars readied now?"

"Yes, I think you should," Burgess said, and with that she walked off to continue talking to her people.

"Everyone, quiet!" Hank shouted, for a moment putting Upton on high alert until she saw him hold up a ringing cell phone. "It's Kelton."

Cheering filled the room again as Burgess hurried over to take the phone. Upton realised that this was the customary concession phone call from the defeated candidate to the victorious one.

The President-elect took the phone and everyone instantly went quiet out of respect. Upton listened in to Burgess' end of the call.

"Burgess."

"Thank you, Brian. It was a hard fought campaign."

"Yes."

"Yes, I will do my best to bring the country together."

"Thank you again."

"Okay, goodnight."

Ending the call, Burgess looked gleefully at her team. "I guess that makes it official."

* * *

"All set, Jay?" Upton asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied stiffly.

The importance of the moment had both of them feeling tense. They were backstage at the United Center, moments away from President-elect Burgess, her husband, the Vice President, and other selected members of the successful campaign, going to out onto the stage for the victory speeches. There were plenty of agents on hand to deal with anyone in the crowd who got out of line, if it happened.

Upton and Halstead's job was to go onto the stage, mingled in with the rest of the party so that they didn't stand out like a sore thumb. The fact that they were wearing expensive suits like everyone else would help in that regard.

Out in the arena, thousands of delirious Burgess voters had packed the place out. They would forever be able to tell their friends and family that they had been there for the first speech of America's first female President-elect. They had been waiting for quite some time, not that they seemed to care in the least.

Before walking through the curtain, Burgess and Ruzek had another private moment. Upton was standing closest to them, and was able to overhear what they said as they embraced.

"I'm so proud of you, honey," Ruzek said. "You deserve this so much. I know you'll be feeling nervous about the speech, but don't forget to try and enjoy it."

"I won't. And I know I'm going to say it in my speech, but thank you for everything you've done. I wouldn't be here now without you."

With that, they parted and Burgess took a moment to compose herself. Upton used the moment to use her wrist microphone to announce they were about to come out.

Burgess looked at Upton. "Ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," Upton said. The fact that the question had been asked impressed her a lot. It showed that Burgess had the good sense to be conscious of her own security needs. Subjects like that were so much better to work with that ones who viewed the Secret Service as a pain in the ass.

"Right then, let's give them what they've been waiting for," Burgess said to the group.

The decision had been made that the party would walk onto the stage without any music, likely for Burgess to enjoy the adulation from her indoctrinated followers, Upton thought in a moment of bitterness that surprised her with it's intensity.

As soon as the group emerged through the curtain, with Burgess and Ruzek in front and Upton not far behind with Vice President-elect, the crowd began cheering loudly. There was genuine jubilation in the air. It felt to Upton like she was witnessing a Queen appearing in front of her loyal subjects.

Nearing the front of the stage, everyone apart from Burgess hung back and formed a line a couple of rows deep. It would be a good image for the TV cameras, showing some of the people who had helped to make the victory happen. Taking the limelight that was due her, the President-elect walked alone up to the lectern, which had the campaign branding on the front of it.

Burgess – Dawson

Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim

Standing with her hands on the sides of the lectern, Burgess looked out at the sea of people in front of her, and at the cameras that were broadcasting her to untold millions of people around the world.

"A new dawn has broken in the United States of America," she pronounced emphatically, to a rapturous ovation.


	4. Chapter 4

Hailey Upton had been awake for more than twenty four hours. For a Secret Service agent, it wasn't exactly a rarity. In fact it was the worst part of the job.

At long last, in the early hours of the morning after her election victory and the ensuing celebration, President-elect Burgess and her husband had gone back to their hotel suite to get some sleep. Upton and Jay Halstead were finally able to go home for some rest, leaving the protection duties to the substitute team that would take the night shift in ordinary circumstances, not that circumstances would be ordinary very often once Burgess took office in January.

"Feeling tired enough?" Upton asked Halstead as they rode down to the lobby in one of the hotel's elevators.

"I've never felt better," he grumbled sarcastically. "I've got more than an hour to drive home yet. Might have an involuntary nap at a red light somewhere."

Upton grunted a laugh as it occurred to her that she could help him with that problem. "I'm like ten minutes from here. Got a spare bedroom you can crash in if you want?" And if you want sex too, that works for me, she didn't add. It was hardly appropriate.

"Really?" he asked with evident surprise. It made her wonder how he was thinking about her. Was the attraction mutual? No, she decided, that was wishful thinking.

"I'm not proposing sex, Jay. It's a spare bed. If you want to take it, take it. If you don't, don't. I'm just trying to save you the long drive when you're not fit to do it."

"Right, sorry," Halstead said quickly. "Yeah, I appreciate it, thanks. I'll follow you over there. Is breakfast included too?"

For the second time since she had met him, Upton burst out laughing in an elevator at one of his quips. Just for the brazenness of it, she decided to humour him. "Fine, I'll throw breakfast in. But next time it's your turn."

"Believe me when I say you don't want to eat anything I might cook," Halstead said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the lobby.

"Fine. Then you can buy breakfast next time. You're not getting out of it that easily."

Although the hotel's doors were closed and locked for security reasons, with a heavy police presence outside, Upton could hear shouting and chanting. There was a protest going on out there, but she was already well aware of that. The protesters had been there for hours, kept a good distance away from the hotel by the police and the National Guard. There was also an anti-Burgess protest going on at the White House, which didn't make a lot of sense since she wouldn't be there for another two months.

Walking outside after a staff member unlocked a door and let them out, Upton was able to hear the protest more clearly. They were currently chanting, "Fascist scum!"

"This isn't going to be an easy job, you know that?" she said to Halstead.

"That's for sure. A lot of people really hate her. But disagreeing with someone's politics isn't an excuse to try and harm them."

"No, it isn't," Upton said as they walked around to the hotel's parking lot, which was inside the National Guard perimeter. "Right, Jay, follow me and we'll see if we can get someone to direct us to the best route out of here."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Upton and Halstead walked into her house. It was a three bedroom home, fairly small by American standards, but it was modern, and expensively decorated and furnished. Hailey was very proud of it, not least because it was the first home she had owned.

"Very nice place," Halstead said as she led him into the living room, flicking lights on along the way.

"Thanks. Do you want a drink or anything? Or shall I show you up to the guest bedroom?"

"Straight to bed, I think, if that isn't rude?"

"It's fine with me, I'm exhausted too," Upton said. They left the room and went up the stairs as she told him about the bedroom he would be staying in.

"The bed's a very comfortable one. I always keep a clean sheet and stuff on it so there's no need to change anything. It's also got it's own bathroom, although it's a small one. Here you go," she said when they reached the open door.

"Perfect. Thanks a lot, Hailey," Jay said. He walked in and flopped down on the bed.

"You're welcome," Upton smiled, closing the door for him. She had the impression that he wasn't actually going to make it into the bed.

* * *

Only four hours later, Upton walked downstairs feeling refreshed. She was used to getting that amount of sleep per night, or even less. In time, it was something your body got used to. By all indications, she wasn't the only one. From the kitchen she could smell and hear bacon being fried, and could also smell fresh coffee. From the living room came the sound of a breakfast news show.

Walking through to the kitchen, Upton stood in the doorway unnoticed by Halstead as he fried eggs and bacon. Hash browns were also cooking, and there was bread loaded into the toaster ready to be toasted.

"So much for not being able to cook," she said.

Halstead turned to look at her and smiled. She hoped he liked the way she looked in a pair black shorts and a simple white t-shirt.

"Yeah, I may have lied about that," he admitted. "I hope you don't mind me raiding your fridge? I'm cooking enough for both of us."

"I can see that," Upton said, walking into the kitchen. "While you finish the food, I'll fix the coffee. How do you take it?"

"As it comes. No sugar, no anything. As strong as possible."

"Oh, we have coffee taste in common," Upton said as she took two big cups out of a cupboard above the coffee machine.

"Oh really? I usually get told I'm weird."

"I didn't say you're not weird," Upton said with a laugh.

Halstead laughed also. "Fair enough. So we're both weird. I can live with that."

"Me too," she said with amusement, pouring their drinks.

Before long they were heading into the living room, breakfast plates and coffee cups in hand.

"Did you sleep okay?" Upton asked as they sat down on her leather couch. Opposite them there was a TV fixed to the wall. Jay certainly looked well rested, she thought. His hair was still damp from taking a shower, and he was wearing his white shirt and dark blue suit pants from the night before, since he obviously had no change of clothes at her place.

"Yes, thank you. The bed was really comfortable. I loved the shower, too. You can't beat strong water pressure to blow the cobwebs away."

"Agreed. It's one of the main things I judge a hotel room on when I stay in one."

Tucking into their breakfast, they watched the news. Unsurprisingly, it was wall to wall coverage of the election result.

"Not only is Kim Burgess going to be the first female President in the history of the United States when she takes office, she will also be the youngest President, at just thirty-nine years of age," a male anchor was saying, providing voiceover for footage of Burgess on the campaign trail.

A female anchor then took over. "From her supporters, President-elect Burgess enjoys undying support. Some have even compared her to a cult leader. But on the other side of the political divide, the election result is viewed as a nightmare come true. Protests are ongoing in Chicago, Washington, DC, New York, and in several other cities."

"Oh my," Upton said through a mouthful of bacon and hash brown. Live images from the protests were now being shown.

Two people were holding up a large picture of Burgess that had been taken as she waved at a crowd somewhere. It had been snapped at the perfect moment where her waving motion had a resemblance to a Nazi salute, and she had a stern look on her face. Someone had used Photoshop to add a Hitler moustache to her. It was a striking propaganda image.

Another two people were holding up a different picture. In that one, Burgess was wearing a very stylish black coat. Someone had Photoshopped a red armband and silver insignia onto it to make it look like an SS uniform.

In addition there were many banners and placards accusing Burgess of being a fascist. Even the chants had been left in the footage for the viewers to hear.

"God damn, those pictures are something else," Halstead said.

"Yeah. If she thinks she's going to have an easy time of it now that she's won the election she's got another thing coming. But forget Burgess for a bit and tell me some more about yourself."

And so he did, telling her about his childhood, and how he had joined the police before deciding to apply to the Secret Service. It was a common path to the Service, given that they liked to cherry pick the best of what they could find from the police force. It also happened to be how Upton had found herself joining up.

"Right, I had better get home and change," Halstead said eventually, putting his empty plate on the glass coffee table. "Do you want me to help you clean up?"

Upton waved him off as they both got up. "No, I've got it. You've got an hour home and an hour back again, based on what you said last night. You should get moving."

"Alright, thanks. I'll go and get my stuff."

While he went upstairs, Upton walked to the front door to wait for him. She had enjoyed the breakfast a lot, not least because he had made a great job of cooking it. The conversation had also been enjoyable, even though there hadn't been time for her to tell her story. She hoped it wouldn't be long before that chance presented itself.

"Okay, I'm all set," Halstead called out on his way down the stairs. "I'll be as quick as I can, and I'll meet you at the hotel. Thanks again for letting me stay here," he said as he reached her, now wearing his suit jacket.

"You're welcome, Jay," she said. Their eyes met, and lingered for a second that was very noticeable to her. She had to consciously tell herself not to kiss him. It's not appropriate, she thought, feeling frustrated.

"Okay, I'll see you later, Hailey. Then we'll see what mood the Fuhrer is in the morning."

Upton burst out laughing at the joke, although it was way out of line for an agent to say, even off duty. "Oh my god. Don't say anything like that again."

"Noted," Halstead, laughing to himself as he walked out to his car.

Closing the door behind him, Upton realised that she was smiling. The little morning's company with Jay had made her happier than she could remember being for some time.


	5. Chapter 5

"Morning," Upton said when she walked into the office on the ground floor of the hotel that Burgess was using. It was the office she had walked into the previous morning to report to Chief Platt. The Chief wasn't there this morning, but Jay Halstead was, along with a couple if cops who were having a coffee break.

Greetings came her way as she walked over to Halstead, who poured her a coffee as she approached him.

"You got back here quick. I thought I'd get in before you," she said.

"I went straight home, got changed, put some laundry on, then came here. We're both early for the shift, that's all that matters." He handed her a cup of coffee.

"Thanks. Shall we go up, then?" Upton suggested. Their two stand-ins would be up on the top floor with Burgess, ready to be relieved.

"Sure, let's do it," Halstead said.

Leaving the office, they made the now familiar journey through the lobby and up in the elevator to the top floor. Along the way, Upton used her wrist microphone to announce that they were on their way up to take over protection of Chemist. Upon their arrival on the top floor, the outgoing agents met them at the elevator.

"Anything to report?" Upton asked as she stepped out into the hallway. She found the top floor quiet, which was quite a contrast from the night before.

"No, ma'am. An uneventful night. Chemist and Trader are eating breakfast."

"Thank you," Upton said.

"Agent Reigns is here. He's Trader's primary agent."

"Understood," Upton said. Now confirmed as the first ever First Gentleman, Adam Ruzek merited his own protection detail. Upton actually knew Roman Reigns. He was an absolute mountain of a man with a background in football, at least six and a half feet tall and built like the side of a house, without an ounce of fat on him. He was an excellent agent, and a nice guy too. She was happy to learn that he had been given the important job.

The door to the Burgess suite was propped open again. Upton and Halstead walked in, discovering that the furniture had been rearranged at some point. The couch was still in front of the enormous TV, but there was now a large dining table and chairs in the centre of the room. Burgess and Ruzek were eating breakfast at the table, along with a smartly dressed black man, a short, pretty Hispanic-looking woman, and the guy called Hank. Agent Reigns was sitting at a smaller table near to the balcony doors, which still had the curtains closed across them. He had a cup of coffee in front of him, and he nodded in recognition when he saw Upton walk in. She returned the gesture.

"Tax credits for companies bringing their manufacturing back to America from oversees was a very popular policy. We should make that a priority," the Hispanic woman was saying in a strong New York accent.

Burgess noticed the Secret Service agents walk in, and decided to break off the conversation speak to them. "Agent Upton, Agent Halstead."

"Good morning, Madam President-elect," Upton said.

"That sounds awkward. Ma'am will do. I want to introduce you to some people. Hank Voight you met yesterday. He was my campaign manager, and will be my Chief of Staff from January." Next she motioned to the black man. "Kevin Atwater. He's going to be the White House press secretary." And finally the woman with the New York accent. "Zelina Vega. My special advisor, who will be continuing in the role when I take office."

"Good morning," Upton said to the three, none of whom seemed particularly interested in meeting Secret Service agents. They at least repeated the greeting back to her.

"We'll all be travelling to the house in Kenilworth this morning, Agent Upton. Make sure transportation is organised, please," Burgess said.

"Yes, ma'am," Upton said. Kenilworth was a community not far from Chicago, where only the rich could afford to live. The Ruzek/Burgess house promised to be something special to see.

"I'll get on that," Halstead offered quietly. Upton nodded her agreement, and he stepped outside to make the arrangements via his wrist microphone.

Upton would have liked to go over and have a chat with Reigns, but that wasn't the done thing in the presence if the President-elect and her husband. An agent's job in this kind of setting was to stay out of the way and remain silent unless spoken to. For that reason, she went and took a standing position against the wall on the right side of the room.

"Jobs and the economy will be priority number two," Burgess said. "Priority one is the rioting. It's going to carry on until January, that much is guaranteed at this point. All you have to do is turn on a TV or load up Twitter and you'll see Democrat cities burning. Once I become President we're going to stop it once and for all, as I promised during the campaign."

"If you wanted to, you could walk back from that a bit once you're in office," Voight said.

"Walk back from it? Absolutely not," Burgess said stridently. "The riots will be stopped, completely and quickly. I want an executive order ready to be drafted on day one. The groups behind the rioting are going to be classified as terrorist organisations. That will allow us to deploy forces to deal with situations as they arise, without waiting on cowardly state governors or city mayors to request help. We're also going to trace the funds of these groups and seize them, and we're going to seize the funds of anyone who puts funds into them. Funding domestic terrorists will not be tolerated. We're also going to need new laws relating to rioting passed as soon as possible: Damaging public or private property while rioting, ten years in prison. Assaulting an innocent person while rioting, ten years in prison. Assaulting a police officer in general, I want the penalty increasing to twenty five years in prison. My administration is going to be the toughest this country has ever had on crime."

"Well, after yesterday we control the senate and the house, so I'm sure we can get most of that done," Voight said.

Burgess looked at him as if he had whipped his dick out and pissed on her pancakes. "We'll get it all done," she said icily.

Jesus Christ, Upton thought. The woman didn't like being told she couldn't have her own way, even when it came to ridiculously draconian changes to the law.

"If you pass that lot you're going to need more prisons," Atwater said, trying to crack a bit of a joke to lighten the mood.

"If we need more prisons we'll reopen some old ones or build more," Burgess said. "Whether we get those people off the streets by having them back in their homes or behind bars, we will have law and order in every American city. This the number one issue that won us the election. Ordinary working people said they felt voting Burgess would keep them safer. And it will."

Upton was even more concerned about what the Burgess presidency might bring than she had been before. It seemed like she was the kind of person who didn't give a damn about getting advice or taking in other people's opinions. Cabinet government didn't seem like it was going to get much of a chance either, based on this first impression. Having someone running the White House like a dictator, with both the senate and congress inclined to go along with her, was very troubling indeed for anyone who didn't subscribe to the Burgess world view.

"I have three cars being organised now, ma'am," Halstead reported as he walked back into the room. "We can be ready to go with five minute's notice."

Burgess nodded. "Very well. We'll leave after breakfast."

* * *

Later that morning, Upton and Halstead found themselves at the Kenilworth house for the first time. It was a positively enormous colonial, way too big for two people in Upton's opinion. But then it wasn't her house, so her opinion didn't matter.

President-elect Burgess had gone into a living room to talk business with her husband, Voight, Atwater, and Ms Vega. With armed agents outside the house, on guard for any and all eventualities, agents Upton, Halstead and Reigns were left with pretty much nothing to do. Mr Ruzek had at least directed them to a different living room nearby where they could sit in relative comfort, and had told them they could get food and drink from the kitchen if they wished. At least he didn't seem too bad, Upton had thought.

As the three agents walked into the room they had been sent to, Upton took it upon herself to make the introductions. "Jay Halstead, Roman Reigns. I assume you guys haven't met?"

"Not until today. Good to meet you, Jay," Roman said. The two men exchanged a powerful handshake.

"You too, Roman. You two know each other, then?"

"We've crossed paths a few times, but we've never actually worked together," Upton said.

There were two large, rather old fashioned leather couches in the room. They looked rather hard and uncomfortable, as if they were more about how they looked than what it was like to sit on them. Nonetheless, she took a seat on one. Pleasingly, Halstead joined her, leaving the other couch to Reigns.

"So, did you vote for her?" Upton asked Reigns, keeping her voice down just in case.

"No," he replied with a bit of humour. "Did you?"

"No," Upton said.

"Nope," Halstead added.

"Honestly, it worries me that she's going to be in power," Upton said. "This country could look a lot different four years from now, and not in a good way."

"I still don't understand how she won," Halstead said, shaking his head.

"I do," Reigns said. "I don't agree with her, and I would never have voted for her, but I do know how she won. She's a remarkable public speaker. She connects with an audience so much better than Kelton did. And she also knew what to say and what ideas to put forward to get her base out to vote. We may not like it, but she's good at what she does. There's no point in pretending she's not. That's how she won the nomination in the first place, when no one thought that was going to happen."

"Well I don't like it," Upton muttered, recalling the display she had witnessed back in the hotel suite.

"Rumour has it she's nicer in private than she seems in public," Reigns said.

"I don't know about that. I haven't had much of a chance to speak to her yet," Upton said. Part of the job of a primary agent was to get to know the person they were assigned to protect. Having understanding, respect and possibly even friendship was a big help for a relationship that relied so much on trust.

Was there another side to Kim Burgess? Upton didn't know, but one way or another she was going to have to find out.


	6. Chapter 6

By lunch time, the house was a lot emptier. Mr Ruzek had gone to work at his office, with agent Reigns accompanying him. Mr Voight, Mr Atwater and finally Ms Vega had also all departed at various times. Halstead had gone outside to supervise the security detail out there, leaving only Upton and President-elect Burgess in the house.

It was about fifteen minutes after Vega had left when Upton heard footsteps coming towards the living room she was sitting in. She looked expectantly towards the open door.

"Can you cook, Upton?" Burgess asked when she appeared in the doorway.

"I'd like to think I'm okay at it, ma'am," Upton said, taking the question in her stride.

"You can drop the ma'am, it's just the two of us here now. When it's just us you can call me Kim."

Well that's the first surprise, Upton thought as she got up. Burgess was still some way from friendly, but she was also some way from the woman who had given Voight a look that could have killed him back at the hotel suite. Calling the President-elect by her first name was going to feel awkward, and it was an arrangement that would only be temporary. A Secret Service agent calling a sitting president by their first name would never be appropriate.

"Okay, Kim it is, at least until we're in the White House. Then it'll be Madam President at all times."

Burgess smiled, looking pleased with herself. "Madam President. Sounds good, doesn't it?"

Having a female president sounds good. It just a shame it's you, Upton thought, keeping her face impassive. For obvious reasons she had no intention of saying something like that. In any case, Burgess didn't wait for an answer.

"Your first name is?"

"Hailey, spelled with an I not a Y."

"Okay then, Hailey, you can come and help me fix something for lunch. This is the part where we get to know each other, right? I remember Agent Jin telling me it was important. Awful what happened to those guys."

"Yeah, it's dreadful," Upton said as they walked into a large, modern kitchen with an island in the middle of it. Burgess' words about the agents who had been killed seemed genuine, which was at least something. "Sadly I never got to meet Jin or Willhite. I certainly never would have wanted to replace them under those circumstances."

"Of course. I'm thinking burritos for lunch. We've got some very nice chilli."

Okay, moving swiftly on, I guess, Upton thought. "Sure. I can make them if you like?" she offered. She had the impression that was why she had been asked to 'help' in the first place, so she figured she might as well own it and try to impress.

"Okay, let's see what you can do." Burgess talked her through where she could find everything she might need, then sat down at the kitchen island to watch proceedings.

"So, tell me about yourself," Upton said as she got to work laying out tortillas on a work surface. "Usually I'd do extensive research before taking an assignment, but with the circumstances this time there wasn't the opportunity."

"Of course. I'm born and bred here in Chicago, and proud of it. My parents are both scientists. They met at work, where they both worked as biologists. I know you guys call me Chemist, so it'll come as no surprise to you that I chose chemistry as my field. But back to my childhood, my parents are both Republicans and were always active in politics. They would get involved with campaigning, helping to run primaries, all kinds of things like that. They raised me to be politically aware, so I was one of the few people with a proper understanding of what I was doing when I reached the legal voting age."

Packing the tortillas with chilli, rice and peppers, Upton took in what she was learning. She had the ability to memorise a lot of things quickly, which was a good thing for a Secret Service agent. "Where did you meet your husband?" she asked.

"At a dinner after a political event while I was in college. Adam happened to be sat at the same table as me for dinner. We started talking and we just clicked right away. I even kissed him that night, would you believe?"

Upton was glad she had her back to Burgess, for she had to smile at that. Only a properly conservative person could think they were pushing the boundaries of morality by kissing someone the same night they met them. It was almost like talking to someone from olden days. "I may have done that a time or two myself," she confessed, expecting the humour to go right over Burgess' head. Sure enough, it did.

"I would never have expected to do it, but it was different with Adam. It didn't take us long to realise we were in love, and we decided to marry. He had an interest in running for Congress, but he was too busy with work. In any case, he's not particularly cut out for it. I had always liked speaking at public events and talking about politics. I have a mind for details that not many people possess. One night I got a standing ovation for a speech, and on the way home afterwards Adam asked me if I had ever considered running for office. I hadn't. I was busy with Burgess Chemical, the company I built from the ground up. But over time the idea grew on me, and I decided to go for it. Adam had the money to finance my campaign, and it ended up going really well. I got elected by quite a big majority."

"Never thought of having kids?" Upton asked. As soon as she said it she worried if it might have been too forward to be appropriate. Then it dawned on her that she was enjoying a perfectly pleasant conversation with Kim Burgess. Maybe there was a nicer side to her after all. It felt like quite a revelation.

"We did think about it. A couple of years ago we had a big decision to make, when I first considered running for president. If I was going to run, I couldn't do it with a newborn. Eventually I decided to run, obviously."

"Why?" With the burritos put together, Upton carried them over to the cooker. "I'll heat these up now."

"Why what?" Burgess asked as Upton added a small amount of oil to a pan and laid the burritos in it.

"Why did you run for president?"

"Because there was no one else running who either believed in the things I believe in, or were strong enough to get anything done. Since I decided to run things have got so much worse, too. We've had the virus, the riots, and the decimation of the economy. I absolutely cannot bear America in decline. I just won't have it."

With the burritos cooking, Upton had turned to face Burgess during that reply. The stridency and passion for her country had been clear in her voice and in her eyes. While Upton didn't agree with her politics, she had no doubt that the motivation was what was best for the country. The only thing was would four years of Burgess actually be best for the country, or would she end up irreparably damaging it?

"What about you? Do you have any children?" Burgess asked.

"No, ma'am. Unfortunately I've never found the right person to settle down with. In any case the Secret Service is work best suited to single people."

"Yes, I would imagine it is," Burgess said as Upton turned back around to pay attention to the cooking burritos. "I must say you guys are very brave to sign up for the job you do. You would lay down your life for mine if the situation arose?"

"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that," Upton said, risking some humour, in case Burgess had the faintest concept of it. She must have laughed at something at some point in her life, surely? "But yes, yes I would. That's the job."

"Even though you don't agree with my politics?"

"That's not relevant," Upton said. "You're going to be the President. You'll be the leader of our country, and whether I agree with you or not, that means you're entitled to the respect that office commands. Besides, like I said, it's my job to protect your life."

Burgess took a moment to digest that while Upton carefully turned the burritos over in the pan. "You know what I like about you so far, Hailey?" she asked eventually.

"No?" Upton said, turning to look at her.

"Your honesty. People who suck up to me get on my nerves. So, why don't you tell me what made you vote for Kelton and not for me?"

Oh shit, Upton thought, wondering how she had gotten herself into this situation. She was supposed to avoid talking politics, not get right into it during the first conversation she ever had with the president-elect. There just didn't seem to be a way of getting away from the subject with Burgess. It was like politics was all that mattered to her. But then she was going to be the president, so maybe that was reasonable. Despite wanting to avoid the subject, she decided to make at least one point.

"Your attitude to the protests was a big turn off for me."

"Riots, Hailey," Burgess said firmly, as if she was telling off a kid who had gotten out of line. "They're riots, not protests. Since you seem keen to defend them, let me ask you a question. Let's say for the sake of discussion that your parents own a hardware store. They've owned it for thirty years, building it up from nothing to be a successful business of which they are extremely proud. They plan to leave it to you one day, and for you to pass it on to your children. One night the burglar alarm goes off because rioters are trying to break in. Your dad rushes down there to try and defend the store, but when he gets there the riots beat him to death in the street, filming themselves doing it. They then smash their way into the store, loot it and burn it to the ground. The insurance company doesn't pay out because they don't cover rioting. No one is arrested for your father's murder because everyone in the video footage is wearing masks, and no eye witnesses come forward. Tell me, Hailey, how do you feel now?"

Christ, she knows how to turn the screw on someone, Upton thought. "Of course I'd be heartbroken and angry. Who wouldn't be? But that's not what a vast, vast majority of these protests are like."

"Tell that to everyone who has lost their business. Tell that to everyone who has lost a family member. Tell that to everyone who has lost their job. Tell that to everyone who will have to contribute towards the millions of tax dollars it's going to take to repair the damage. I'm talking about ordinary working Americans, the very backbone of this country. This lawlessness is ruining their lives, and it will stop!"

"The burritos are done," Upton said, bailing the hell out of the political discussion. It was making her feel frustrated and angry, plus it seemed like Burgess might start banging her fist on the island if she carried on. Getting into a heated argument was a bad idea, not to mention unprofessional. She had at least discovered that there was another side of Kim Burgess. When talking one to one about anything other than politics she actually seemed fairly nice. That was a mental note to take forward while working for the president: Talk about anything but politics with the president-elect. How hard could that be?


	7. Chapter 7

Christmas in Hawaii was definitely a first for Hailey Upton. She was used to spending the holidays in freezing Chicago, sometimes with snow on the ground, so to wake up on Christmas Day to warm weather had felt bizarre. She wasn't sure she liked it, but her opinion was of no relevance.

Upton had been in Hawaii for a month, for Ms Burgess and Mr Ruzek had decided to winter in their home there. From a Secret Service point of view the arrangement was a good thing as there were no protests in Hawaii, while they continued to worsen in mainland America, where some cities were no fair from resembling war zones. From a personal point of view Hailey was disappointed to be away from her family for the holidays. At least Jay Halstead was around, as ever. The two of them had become good friends over the past month and a half, and had pledged to have a secret little Christmas celebration of their own after they got off duty.

In a way, the fact that she and Halstead had become friends was a problem. She didn't want to be his friend. The more time they spent together, the more she became attracted to him. But now she was locked into the friend zone and she had no idea how to get out of it. If she tried something and he rejected her, it would likely be the end of their working relationship. It was a huge risk, and one she was reluctant to take. And so they remained friends.

All of the Secret Service agents assigned to Burgess and Ruzek were quartered at a nice hotel just a short distance away from their villa. It gave the agents somewhere else to be so that it actually felt like they were off duty when they were on their own time, but they could also be at the villa in less than two minutes if a situation required them to be called in. On Christmas morning, Upton went to Halstead's room, just a few doors along the third floor hallway from her own, before their time came to report for duty.

"Hailey! Merry Christmas!" Halstead said when he opened the door to her. He looked really happy to see her, which made her happy in turn.

"Merry Christmas, Jay! Never thought I'd be celebrating the holidays in Hawaii."

"No, neither did I. Come in," he said, standing aside to let her enter his room.

Walking in, Upton prepared to surprise him. They had agreed not to buy each other a gift, but nonetheless she had bought him one, albeit a fairly cheap one. It was hidden in her suit jacket's inside pocket. She just wouldn't have felt right not getting him anything.

"So, I've got a confession to make," Halstead said as he closed the door. "I know we said we wouldn't get each other a gift, but I bought you something anyway."

"That's okay, I bought you something too," she said, producing his gift from her pocket. It was a neatly wrapped rectangular package about the length of her hand and inch or so deep. She handed it to him.

"You shouldn't have! But it is nice to have something to open," Halstead said with a smile on his face. With typical male savagery he tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a sturdy black phone case. As far as phone cases went it was a fairly pricey one, with a sturdy, thick yet stylish design.

"I've lost count of how many times I told you to buy a case, so I got one for you," she explained.

"Thank you," Jay laughed. "I've never had a case on a phone before. It'll take some getting used to. I like this thing," he said, pulling a retractable stand out from the back of the case.

"Yeah, you can stand it up if you're watching something."

"Thanks, Hailey. Let's put it on and see if you bought the right one."

"Of course I bought the right one!" she exclaimed.

The fact that she had risen to the bait made him laugh. "Let's see shall we?" he said, taking out his phone. Sure enough, it slotted perfectly into the case.

"Would you look at that," Upton said with humour. "Next time you drop it you might not crack the back of it."

"Thanks, Hailey. Now your turn." He walked over to fetch a little black box that was sitting on the work desk in the corner of the room.

"If that's an engagement ring I'm out of here," Upton quipped.

Halstead laughed. "Of course it's not an engagement ring! Although I kind of wish I had thought of that now as a rib."

As she took the box, Upton again found herself cursing the friend zone. Obviously she didn't want the gift to be an engagement ring, but she would be totally happy with him showing some romantic interest in her. Hell, she didn't even know if he found her attractive. He probably didn't, she thought. Maybe he had a well concealed thing for Burgess? That thought nearly made her laugh. Instead, she opened the box. Inside was a pair of silver cufflinks with a USA flag design. They weren't cheap trash, either. They were tasteful, stylish and obviously quite expensive.

"Seems we spend our entire lives dressed for work, so it was the first gift idea I thought of," Halstead said. "I hope you like them? I know cufflinks are seen by some people as more of a man's thing, but..." He let his voice trail off.

"I love them, Jay," Upton said genuinely as she took them out of the box. "It's something I never would have thought of buying, but yeah, they look great. And there's something about the thought of wearing the flag while serving as the primary agent to the president. I can't explain it, but it makes me feel some kind of way."

"That's patriotism. You love your country and you have deep respect for the office of president. We both do. That's why we serve Burgess while not agreeing with her politics. There's less than a month to go until her inauguration now."

"Yeah, I was thinking that last night. I'm dreading that day." She didn't need to clarify that she meant from a Secret Service point of view.

In terms of security, inauguration day was a nightmare. It would begin with a private church service, followed by a journey to the White House where Burgess and outgoing president Herrmann would have coffee along with their partners. Burgess and Herrmann would then travel together to the Capitol, where the swearing in ceremony would take place. Any time the president was standing in front of thousands of people was a concern for the Service, all the more so with tensions as high as they currently were in the country.

The swearing in wasn't the biggest concern, though. After lunch the presidential party would travel down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, traditionally walking part of the way. That was the part that Upton was most worried about. She would be glad when it was over.

"It's not going to be fun," Halstead agreed. "Come on, let's see how the cufflinks look."

"Right, sorry," Upton said, shaking off the moment. She put on the cufflinks and showed them to him for his opinion.

"They look great on you. Very smart," he said with a smile.

"Thanks, Jay. They're a nice gift, and I'll take pride in wearing them."

"You're welcome. Right, I guess we had better get to the villa. Did you buy Burgess a gift?"

Upton laughed. "No. Did you?"

"No. Let's hope she didn't get us anything or we are going to be embarrassed."

Upton laughed again. "Somehow I doubt that's going to happen."

* * *

"Merry Christmas, Agent Upton. Nothing to report. Chemist and Trader are in the living room, having just finished breakfast."

"Thank you, and merry Christmas," Upton said to the agent who had been in charge of the night shift. The hand over of responsibility was happening in the entrance hallway of the Burgess/Ruzek villa. With that done, Upton led Halstead through to the living room, finding Ms Burgess and Mr Ruzek sitting on the couch. The usual news channel was on the TV, but the sound was muted.

"Good morning, ma'am, sir. Merry Christmas," Upton said.

"Merry Christmas, Agent Upton, Agent Halstead," Burgess said.

"Merry Christmas," Ruzek said. He was a man of few words, at least when it came to the Secret Service agents. He was always pleasant, but he seemed to prefer them to be seen and not heard as much as possible. He was currently looking at something on a tablet. "Hank sent this on WhatsApp," he said to his wife, holding the tablet so that she could see the screen.

Upton was able to see a tweet appear on the screen. It had a video attached. Ruzek tapped the video and it went full screen, beginning to play. Some kind of reporter was interviewing a smartly dressed black man who looked to be around thirty years old.

"I'm here with David Henry, founder of Black Americans for Burgess," the interviewer said. "David, tell us why you organised a campaign to get black people to vote for Burgess, when a lot of people perceive her stance on many issues to be racist?"

"Nice interviewing," Burgess muttered sarcastically.

"First of all, I don't accept the premise of the question," Henry said. "I don't believe Kim Burgess is racist at all. The media go around saying that as much as possible, and people end up believing it. But I'm not aware of a single instance of Burgess saying or doing anything racist. Whenever I challenge someone to prove to me that she's racist, they've got nothing. To answer the other part of your question, I support Burgess because I'm a conservative. Black conservatives exist. But, contrary to what the media want to believe, a lot of black people voted for Burgess even if they're not conservative."

"If that's true, why do you think it was?" the interviewer asked.

"It is true. And it's because we don't want our communities looted and razed to the ground. How is that helping us? We want law and order. We want jobs. We want better schools. We want youth centers for our kids to socialise in safely, off the streets. We want the chance for our children to be successful. It was Burgess, not Kelton, who made the better offer to us as voters. Black people will be better off under Burgess, with law and order and a strong economy, than they ever would have been under Kelton."

"Reply to Hank and tell him I want that man found, contacted and brought to the White House once I'm president. I want to meet him," Burgess said.

Well, that's not something I expected to hear today, Upton thought. She looked at Halstead, but soon learned that his mind was elsewhere.

"Dinner and a bottle of wine tonight?" he offered quietly for only her to hear. "After all, it is Christmas."

"You're on," she muttered back to him.

* * *

Drinking alcohol was a rarity for Secret Service agents. That made it even more effective, especially when it was consumed quickly. By the time Upton and Halstead had put away a bottle of wine over a rather unfestive room service dinner in his room (they had returned to the hotel too late for the restaurant), they were both on the far side of tipsy. It was then that Upton got one of the biggest surprises of her life.

"You know what pisses me off, Hailey?" Halstead said out of nowhere.

"No. What?"

"I've got myself in the friend zone with you and I don't think I'll ever be able to get out. I know I shouldn't be saying this, and I'm sure I'm going to regret it. I don't want to be in the fucking friend zone, Hailey. I want to lean across this table right now and kiss you."

Upton felt her heart beating hard in her chest. She could barely believe it. All this time Jay had been feeling the same way about her that she felt about him! They had been so keen to avoid scaring off the other that neither of them had dared to say anything, until now. There was only one way to respond.

"You know what I want you to do now, Jay?"

"Apologise and let you leave," he guessed miserably.

Upton reached across the table, grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him towards her so that their mouths were almost touching. "No. I've been thinking about this moment for a long time, thinking it would never happen. I want you to kiss me, then I want us to get in that bed over there and make love."

"Yes, ma'am," Halstead said, and with that they began kissing with furious passion that had been nearly two months in the making.


	8. Chapter 8

The big day was at hand. Kim Burgess was set be inaugurated as the United States' 46th president.

Finished dressing for work, Hailey Upton opened the curtains in her Washington, DC hotel room. Burgess had good weather for her big day, she saw, which matched what had been forecast. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but there was some early morning January frost on the ground.

"Right, let's go," she said to herself. It was the biggest day of her professional life, such was the potential danger to Ms Burgess today. If someone was going to try and kill her, today might well be the day they chose. And that was without people potentially trying to riot and disrupt proceedings, although they were going to be up against one hell of a police and National Guard presence to discourage them.

Ready to leave, Upton left her room. She found Jay Halstead coming down the hallway towards her, right on the agreed upon time. It had only been an hour since she had last seen him, when she had gone back to her room to shower and get ready.

"Hey. Ready to get this show on the road?" Halstead asked.

"Yeah, let's go. I've been looking forward to this and feeling a bit nervous about it for a while now. I'll be glad when it's over."

"I hear you," Halstead said as they started walking towards the elevators. "This time tomorrow we'll be in the White House. I don't know if that will make it easier or harder to avoid people finding out that we're dating."

Upton laughed. "Dating? We've never been on a date! What we're doing is having as much sex as we can, as often as we can get away with it."

Halstead grinned. "Alright, if you're going to come at me with technicalities. Anyway, I've taken you to Hawaii, Chicago and Washington since we've been together."

As she pressed the button to call an elevator, Upton had to laugh at his goofy comment. His sense of humour was one of the things she liked about him. "Yeah, that was totally you taking me places. It was nothing to do with Burgess at all."

"Speaking of Burgess, I was looking at Twitter just now. There's some pretty horrifying stuff on there from both sides. I saw people who oppose her saying they're going to party if she gets shot today. On the other hand I saw people saying things about rioters being exterminated starting tomorrow. That's the word that was used."

"What the hell has happened to this country?" Upton said sadly.

"I don't know," Halstead said, shaking his head as he took his phone out of his pocket. A moment later he handed it to her. "Just look at this. It's actually from someone who supports her, and look how many likes and retweets it has."

Upton found herself looking at a tweet with a video attached. The tweet read: Today we get a real president. Tomorrow the games are over. Tomorrow rioters get crushed.

The video began playing of its own accord. Upton saw edited snippets of Burgess at campaign rallies and such, with the footage altered to black and white, with some rather eerie world war 2 era music in the background. The creator had selected snippets with Burgess looking stern or annoyed, or speaking in an impassioned way. All in all the video was pretty scary for someone who didn't agree with her politics. It didn't escape Upton that this was Burgess supporters trying to turn the Hitler comparisons into a positive thing, as preposterous as that concept was.

"Absolutely horrific. What's wrong with people, actually wanting a female Hitler for president?" she said, handing his phone back as an elevator finally arrived on their floor.

"God knows. There are people on both sides who are so extreme these days. How Burgess is going to bring people together I really don't know, if she even tries. One thing I do know after spending two months with her is she's not Hitler."

"No, she's not. Politically, she's bad but she's not that bad. And she's actually okay to be around in private. I never thought I'd say it, but I kind of like her."

"Yes, me too," Halstead said as their elevator reached the top floor, which had been booked in its entirety by the Burgess party for the sake of security and privacy.

Several Secret Service agents were on guard in the hallway, ready to swiftly turn away any guests who mistakenly or deliberately tried to get onto the private floor. Upton and Halstead were recognised by all of them, and proceeded unchallenged to the suite where Burgess and Ruzek were staying.

When they walked in, they found the Burgess night shift agents, who would be sticking around for the day shift today as it was all hands on deck, but with Upton taking over primary responsibility with Burgess. Burgess herself was being worked on by a makeup artist, while Mr Ruzek had a tailor helping him to put on a suit jacket. Roman Reigns was also there, standing near to Ruzek.

"Morning. Handing over to you," the lead agent of the night shift said to Upton. "Transportation to the church is standing by."

"Morning. Thank you," she replied. The first item on the day's agenda was a trip to a local church for a service, before heading to the White House.

"Morning, Agent Upton, Agent Halstead," Burgess said as the finishing touches were applied to her makeup.

"Good morning, ma'am," they both said in turn.

"And we're done," the makeup artist announced a moment later. She used a mirror to show her handiwork to Burgess.

"Thank you. Good work as always," Burgess said. Getting up, she picked up a black suit jacket that had been left over the back of a chair. After putting the jacket on, she fetched a very dark blue coat from the back of another chair and put that on also. As ever, Upton found her look remarkably stylish. Her natural beauty helped a lot of course, but there was no doubting that Ms Vega, who was the one who helped with the imaging side of things, was very good at what she did.

"Perfect. Presidential, yet attractive," Vega herself said, walking into the room in a true talk of the devil moment.

"You think so?" Burgess asked, looking at herself in a full length mirror that had been brought into the living area.

"She's right," Ruzek said, moving over to join his wife, also dressed for the day ahead.

"Look at that First Couple," Vega gushed. "The best looking there has ever been by far."

"You're hotter," Halstead mumbled to Upton.

"Shush," she replied, somehow managing not to laugh.

"Right, I guess it's time to get this show on the road," Burgess said slowly.

It was the first time Upton had seen her show anything like nerves. It reminded her that she wasn't the only one embarking on possibly the most stressful day of her life. Burgess was going to be in front of TV cameras for much of the day, with the media and untold millions of people around the world ready to analyse everything little thing she said or did. It was a situation that Upton was glad she would never be in herself. Part of her felt for Burgess, who she was beginning to bond with on a personal level, as unlikely as that had seemed to her when she had first taken on the primary agent position. If she could help in any way, she would.

"It's going to be okay, honey," Ruzek said softly, giving his wife a loving kiss on the forehead. "I know it's easy for me to say, but this is your day. Try and enjoy it. Today we celebrate. The work begins tomorrow."

"You're right, let's get this done," Burgess said, clearly drawing confidence from him. With that she took her usual pair of black leather gloves out of her coat pockets and worked her hands into them. As she did so, she looked at Upton. "Okay, Agent Upton, get the cars ready."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

The first big televised moment of the day was Burgess and Ruzek arriving at the White House for the traditional photo opportunity on the front steps and chat over coffee.

Before heading to the White House, the Burgess party had been to a private church service. While there, Upton had prayed herself, asking God to keep everyone safe during the day, and to give Burgess the desire and fortitude to heal the badly hurting country rather than making things worse. If prayers were ever going to be answered, she wanted it to be those.

This is going to be awkward as all hell, Upton thought as the car drew up at the entrance to the White House residence. President Herrmann and his wife were there waiting. They would have just arrived, the whole affair being organised with military precision. During the election campaign, Burgess had been pretty savage in her criticism of Herrmann, as she had been of anyone else she had cared to mention. Herrmann had fired some shots back, both before and since the election, so there was certainly no love at all lost between them. However, today it would be all smiles for the cameras, for that was how things were done in politics.

"Best faces on. Let's get this over with," Burgess grumbled to Ruzek before a Secret Service agent opened the doors for them.

Upton was sitting in the front passenger seat, while Halstead and Reigns had travelled in the motorcade's second car. She got out, but remained standing by the car, as protocol dictated. The photo call was to be done without Secret Service agents lurking in the background. From where she was standing, she was able to hear the first part of the exchange as it unfolded.

"Madam President-elect, good morning," Herrmann said politely.

"Good morning, Mr President," Burgess said. They shook hands, then Burgess exchanged a polite kiss on the cheek with the First Lady.

Ruzek came next, also exchanging a handshake with the President and a peck on the cheek with the First Lady.

A few more words were exchanged that at least had the appearance of being shared in good spirits. Then the four arranged themselves in a line to smile and wave for the cameras. Burgess looked beautiful, and Ruzek looked really handsome, Upton had to admit. They had to be the best looking couple among the world's leaders, but then they were twenty years younger than most of them.

While Upton had been watching on, Halstead had walked over to join her. "Have you ever seen such disingenuous crap in your life?" he muttered.

"It's politics. We're going to be around that kind of thing for four years now," she replied.

Shortly, the photo opportunity was completed and all four people involved turned and walked into the White House. Upton, Halstead and Reigns followed at an appropriate distance.

President Hermann guided his guests through to what was known as the Blue Room, Upton knew. Since taking the Burgess assignment she had committed the entire floor plans of the residence and the West Wing to memory.

"Frankly, Madam President-elect, you've get a heck of a job on your hands to deal with all of this protesting and unrest," Herrmann was saying as Upton entered the room. The four dignitaries were just taking their seats. His tone hinted at the fact that he apportioned blame to her for what was happening.

Burgess said, "That's okay, Mr President. Unlike most people in this city, I have a spine. We'll restore law and order, and we'll be quick about it. That's what people voted for, and we're going to deliver."

Jesus Christ, Upton thought. The usual politeness required by diplomacy did not seem to mean much to Kim Burgess. To Upton, the intent behind it also didn't bode well for the inauguration speech to come later in the day.


	9. Chapter 9

Hailey Upton stood next to Jay Halstead. Both of them were outside of the Capitol Building, not far from the lectern where the day's events were being conducted. Taking a moment to look around, Upton felt patriotic pride in how resplendent the building looked, as did the military, brass bands, and even the enormous crowd. There was no doubt that a lot of people loved Kim Burgess, for the crowd went back as far as she could see towards the Washington Monument.

"Quite something, isn't it?" Halstead said quietly.

"I'll say. Imagine all of that being for you?"

Vice-president-elect Dawson had already been introduced, as had all of the other relevant dignitaries. Mr Ruzek was already standing at the front of the group, to the right side of the lectern. Upton could see two bibles sitting on his chair. They would soon be used to swear his wife into the most powerful job in the world.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the president-elect of the United States, Kimberly Marina Burgess!"

The loud cheer from the crowd below surprised Upton. Vice president-elect Dawson had received nothing more than disinterested applause. For the public, this show really was about one person, it seemed.

With one of the several brass bands playing, Burgess walked out of the building and into view. Upton tried to imagine how she would feel as she saw the crowd for the first time. If she was awed by it, she didn't show it. She moved slowly past the dignitaries, shaking hands and saying hello. Each living ex-president received a handshake. Then Dawson received one, along with something approaching a hug. Lastly, there was Ruzek. Husband and wife shared a peck on the cheek.

With her entrance made, Burgess had to hand the limelight over to others for a few minutes. Next up was Dawson's swearing in as vice-president. Upton half listened in as he took his oath, but she kept her eyes and attention on Burgess. The odds of one of the dignitaries attacking her were astronomical, but it was Upton's job to be ready to protect Burgess at all times. At all times meant at all times.

After Dawson's swearing in was complete, there were another couple of speeches. Upton joined everyone else in not caring what was being said. A choir then sang America the Beautiful. With that done, it was finally time for the moment the people in attendance and the millions of viewers around the world had been waiting for. Burgess still didn't look nervous, Upton saw. Stoic was the word that came to mind.

The Chief Justice was introduced, to administer the presidential oath of office, and everyone was asked to stand.

Another cheer went up as Burgess and Ruzek stepped forward. She gave a single wave to the crowd, and Upton noticed that she had taken her gloves off. It was likely expected of her to place a bare hand on the bible, she imagined. Ruzek held the two bibles, and Burgess put her left hand on top of them.

"Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Kimberly Marina Burgess, do solemnly swear..."

Burgess raised her right hand. "I, Kimberly Marina Burgess, do solemnly swear..."

"That I will faithfully execute..."

"That I will faithfully execute..."

"The office of President of the United States."

"The office of President of the United States."

"And will, to the best of my ability..."

"And will, to the best of my ability..."

"Preserve, protect and defend..."

"Preserve, protect and defend..."

"The constitution of the United States."

"The constitution of the United States."

"So help me God."

"So help me God," Burgess said with passion in her voice.

"Congratulations, Madam President," the Chief Justice said, offering a handshake.

A cheer went up from the huge crowd, the dignitaries started applauding, and a band began to play.

It's official, Upton thought as she watched another round of handshakes get underway. Kim Burgess was America's first female president, for better or worse.

"Let's see what she says," Halstead muttered.

"Hopefully something to calm the tensions a bit," Upton replied, more in hope than expectation.

Finished with the handshakes, Burgess put her gloves back on and stepped up to the lectern to speak.

Over the next twenty minutes, Upton got to witness and hear a Burgess speech in person for only the second time, the first having been the victory speech on election night. There was no denying that she had a way with words, or at least her speech writer did. The thing that really swept the audience away was the delivery, though. Every word seemed to come right from the heart. Upton had heard a lot of people speak in her time, and she somewhat grudgingly had to admit that Burgess was probably the best of the lot. Charisma could get you a long way in life, apparently.

The speech covered several topics, ranging from solving the virus crisis, to a foreign policy of starting no more regime change wars, to jobs and the economy. Lastly, Burgess came to law and order, supposedly the issue that had won the election for her if analysts and experts were to be believed.

"Fixing the economy in the long term was why I originally decided to run for president. People told me I could run, but I would never win. But my father told me, 'Who dares, wins!' I dared, and I won! So we will fix the economy, creating the jobs that working Americans want and need. But you cannot have prosperity unless you have order. And you cannot have order unless you have the rule of law. That is why tackling the ongoing rioting and lawlessness is my first and top priority."

Here we go, Upton thought, sighing inwardly as she sensed Burgess was going to wind up her speech with a rant.

"To that end, I am announcing several measures that will be introduced tomorrow via executive order, and later put into law. Peaceful protest is the right of all citizens, but rioting, looting and violence are not. That is domestic terrorism, and it will now be classified as such. Under this executive order and the ensuing law, domestic terrorists damaging public or private property will be committing offenses punishable with ten years in prison. The penalty for assaulting a person during rioting will be ten years in prison. We must also have respect for our fantastic police forces, therefore the penalty for assaulting a police officer under any circumstances will be increased to twenty years in prison."

Upton remembered hearing those draconian ideas from Burgess herself. They were actually being put into practice.

"Further, since we have seen more than six months of incompetence from state governors and city mayors in policing their cities, the executive order, and the ensuing law, will allow the federal government to deploy the National Guard at the discretion of the president in order to quell any rioting that occurs. Make no mistake about it, the rioters are enemies of America. Appeasement would achieve nothing with those people. The only way to stop the rioting and destruction is to make sure those are cleared from the streets, and that their lawlessness never shames our nation again. It will not be an easy battle in which to triumph, but I guarantee each and every one of you right here and now, we will triumph, and we will stop the rioting. 'Who dares, wins!' We dare! We will win!"

A loud cheer of approval came from the crowd, along with applause. A standing ovation, in fact, Upton saw as she took a look at the crowd for herself. Personally, she felt deeply uncomfortable. So much for healing the nation and bridging the divide. Burgess was practically declaring war on some of her own citizens, and using an executive order to override local government in the process. There was going to be a lot of anger out there in country, in stark contrast to the rapturous applause that was still filling the air in Washington, DC. The applause had actually cut Burgess off in her stride and somewhat stopped her ending the speech with the right flourish.

"God bless you all, and God bless America!" the president exclaimed some moments later, but the applause for her 'We will win!' line was still going on. A chant of 'USA' started up, too.

"This is going to be a real mess," Halstead said.

"Yes," Upton agreed, picturing the violence and bloodshed on the streets getting a lot worse before it got better, assuming it did get better. That was a long way from guaranteed, in her estimation.

* * *

After the inauguration ceremony there had been lunch, more speeches, and then a military parade for the President and First Gentleman's inspection. In this case, inspection meant standing and watching.

For Hailey Upton it had been a long day already, a lot of it spent standing out in the bitter cold. The worst was yet to come. In fact it was about to come real soon. It was time for the presidential motorcade to travel from the Capitol to the White House. Tradition dictated that the president would walk part of the way, and Upton had just received clearance to allow it to happen today. One thing the president was not in charge of was her own security. The responsibility, and the pressure, was now on Upton.

As the motorcade arrived, Upton approached Burgess. It was going to be their first interaction since the inauguration as Burgess had been incredibly busy, and Upton had been doing a good job of being on hand without being in the way.

"Congratulations, Madam President," Upton offered, managing to put warmth into it.

"Thank you, Agent Upton," Burgess said graciously.

"Ma'am, I have clearance to tell you that you and the First Gentleman can get out of the motorcade and walk part of the journey if you wish."

"We'll do that," Burgess said without needing to think about it.

"Yes, ma'am. As we discussed yesterday, I'll be just behind you and to your right at all times when you're walking. If I have to direct you, I need you to do as I say at once, without question, please."

"Got it," Burgess said.

"Thank you, ma'am," Upton said, promptly taking a step back. Not for the first time, she found herself thinking that despite her criticisms of Burgess, and there were many, her attitude to her safety and to the Secret Service was first rate. She was pretty much the ideal protectee.

As she walked around and got into the front of the armoured vehicle, Upton used her wrist microphone to pass on the president's intentions. Burgess and Ruzek got in the back, and the car slowly pulled away. There were a multitude of police squad cars and motorbikes in front and behind, along with a black SUV full of Secret Service agents. More agents walked with the motorcade, surrounding it at all angles. Security had never been tighter than it was for Kim Burgess.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" Ruzek said to his wife as the vehicle got moving.

Upton could hear the pride in his voice at what Burgess had achieved. It made her want a marriage as loving as theirs for herself one day. Maybe Jay would be the man, somewhere down the line? Now was hardly the time for daydreaming though.

"Yes, so many people came out," Burgess said, looking out of her window. "I've got a lot of responsibility to these people. They're the ones who voted for me to get the nomination, and they voted for me again to beat Kelton. It's important not to let them down."

"I don't think for a minute that you'll let them down," Ruzek said.

"Oh, I won't. But I still need other people with the strength of character to get things done. Let's hope we've made the right choices for the key jobs."

"I think you have. You put enough time into the selections."

A few minutes later, with the motorcade a short way along Pennsylvania Avenue, Upton made the decision to stop it. "We'll stop here, Madam President," she said. "Please stay close to the car, and do not go any closer to the crowds."

"Smiling and waving only, got it," Burgess said.

With that, the vehicle stopped and everyone but the driver got out. Upton stuck close to Burgess as they started walking, the president holding hands with her husband and waving to the public with her other hand. Several TV cameramen were dotted around, capturing the occasion for the viewers. They were a potential threat for Upton to consider as were the throngs of people lining the streets. There was a lot of cheering and applauding, but Upton did pick up on some boos. Not everyone in attendance was a Burgess supporter, and that made the situation dangerous.

Having gotten out of the following car, Halstead caught up to Upton and walked beside her. There was no muttered banter between them this time. Their minds were totally on the job at hand. At any moment they could be required to literally bundle Burgess back into her car if the situation proved it necessary.

For several minutes the new president walked along, acknowledging the people she was now the leader of. Via her earpiece, Upton received communication from the agents on the perimeter of the protection detail.

"Crowds look bigger up ahead. I see a couple who look aggressive."

Alright, that's enough, Upton thought. "I need you back in the car please, Madam President," she said, just loud enough for Burgess to hear.

To her credit, Burgess complied straight away. The she made it look to the crowds and the TV audience that it was entirely her own decision further earned Upton's respect.

"I'd like to be able to walk the last part of the journey," Burgess said once everyone was back in the car.

"We'll assess the crowds, Madam President. If it's safe to do so, we'll make that happen," Upton promised.

"I'd rather stay in here where it's warm," Ruzek quipped.

"Shut up," Burgess said with a laugh.

Further along Pennsylvania Avenue, Burgess was indeed able to get out and walk for a second time. Upton was highly anxious the whole time, but the walk happened without incident. There were reports of rioting elsewhere in the city, and in several other cities across the country, but no one had been stupid enough to try and get near to the president.

Burgess got back into the car for the final drive up to the White House. When they arrived, Upton could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The most stressful job she had ever had to do had come to a successful conclusion. The new president had safely arrived at her new home.


	10. Chapter 10

Inauguration day hadn't been the longest working day of Hailey Upton's life, but it had damn sure felt like it by the time she had crawled into bed. The pressure and the cold weather had likely both contributed to her exhaustion.

After the motorcade had safely reached the White House, there had been more parades and brass bands for the entertainment of Burgess and Ruzek. For Upton, Halstead, Reigns and several more Secret Service agents it had meant more time standing in the cold. By the time it all ended and they went inside, Upton had felt like the next time she encountered a brass band she would wrap one of the instruments around someone's head.

Finally, at long last, the celebrations outside had ended. But that still hadn't been the end of the day by a long shot. The action had merely moved in doors, for a dinner with an almost party-like atmosphere, with Burgess' friends, family, donors and political colleagues all gathering around to celebrate her inauguration. The celebrations had gone on long into the night, before Burgess and Ruzek had finally decided to head upstairs to bed.

'Thank fuck that's all over,' was the first thing Upton thought as she got out of bed and trudged through to her hotel room's bathroom for a shower. Finding a place to call home was going to be something she needed to do in the near future. The Service were good at helping agents with that at least. It would be a problem for Halstead too, as their Chicago homes were obviously not going to be of much use to them for the next four years.

Thankfully, the shower helped to clear away the cobwebs, and Upton felt refreshed as she went down to the restaurant for breakfast. She had arranged to meet Halstead there, and as she walked in she saw him sat at a table, a coffee and a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. He was too busy eating to notice her, which she found amusing.

Deciding that bacon, eggs and coffee seemed perfect, Upton fixed the same thing for herself and went over to join her lover. He was halfway through his meal by the time she got there, such was the pace he was going at.

"Has any of that touched the sides?" she asked as she put her plate and cup down opposite him.

"Oh, hey," Halstead said, looking up at her. "No, it hasn't. I woke up feeling like I could eat a cow. An entire cow, without even cutting off the tail or the head."

"Nice, Jay, nice," Upton said as she made herself comfy on her chair.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "How did you sleep?"

"Very well, although it felt like my alarm went off the minute I put my head on the pillow."

"Relatable," Halstead said. "But hey, at least that's the inauguration over with. Burgess has to get her government up and running, so there should be a period of time where we're on a regular schedule at the White House."

"That sounds great," Upton said after eating a mouthful of bacon and egg. "I've forgotten what it feels like to work a regular day shift."

"I know, right? But we should be good for a while now. And you know what that means?"

"I get to catch up on my beauty sleep."

"Not needed," he assured her as he took a sip of coffee. "What it really means is I get to take you out to dinner for the first time. I can't keep being accused of not taking you on a date."

Upton nearly laughed, which would have made her spit coffee. "Being accused? Mister, you haven't taken me on a date. Frankly, you're lucky you've gotten as much sex as you have."

"I'll have to tell the president that a night off needs to be top priority."

"I'd love to see you do that," Upton grinned. "If I understand Burgess as well as I think I do, I don't think holidays are something she particularly enjoys. She'll struggle enough with having a chef and housekeepers."

"That's true," Halstead said, looking amused. "It really surprised me the way she liked to cook so often, and clean her own kitchen afterwards. You'd think people with their kind of money would hire people to do all that for them. All they had was a cleaner."

"It wouldn't surprise me to see her in the kitchen ordering the chef about," Upton said, and they both laughed.

Halstead looked at his watch. "Eat up. We'd better hurry up and get over there."

"Yes, boss," Upton said dryly, making light of the fact that he was her second-in-command.

* * *

"You know, you didn't actually give me an answer on that date," Halstead said as he walked with Upton up the stairs in the White House residence. They had relieved the night shift agents, who had met them at the bottom of the stairs, and had been told that President Burgess and Mr Ruzek were in the dining room, finishing their breakfast.

When Upton led the way in there, she found that the meal was actually over. With Burgess and Ruzek was the White House Chief Usher, a man named Alvin Olinsky. They had all met him the previous evening when he had given Burgess and Ruzek a tour of the residence. His job was to organise and run anything and everything to do with the White House's non-political staff.

"Madam President, I'd like to introduce you to a couple of staff members. I have them waiting for you in the living room," Olinsky was saying as Upton and Halstead walked in.

"Ah, morning, Agent Upton, Agent Halstead," Burgess said cheerfully. It seemed she had slept well, for she looked the picture of health and vitality, make up done and dressed in a very expensive light grey suit with an American flag pin on the left lapel. Upton figured that becoming the most powerful person in the world could be quite a tonic, at least for someone who relished the position and wasn't afraid of the pressure and responsibility it would bring.

"Good morning, Madam President, Mr Ruzek," Upton said. She also nodded to Olinsky. Then it was Halstead's turn to offer pleasantries.

"Okay then, lead the way, Olinsky," Burgess said.

Olinsky, Burgess and Ruzek left the room, with Upton and Halstead close behind them. Upton noted that there was no sign of Agent Reigns, but she figured he would be in the living room introducing himself to the aforementioned staff, getting a first impression of them in the process. After all, she was about to get her own first impression too.

Sure enough, Reigns was in the living room, standing against the wall, his introductions apparently out of the way. The staff members were both women, both around thirty, Upton estimated. One had long dark hair, the other a bleached blonde bob. Both women were attractive, especially the blonde, Upton thought with a pang of jealousy. Dark hair had a white doctor's jacket on, which had the seal of the president on the right breast. Blonde hair was wearing a white chef's jacket, also bearing the president's seal. On the other breast was an embroidered inscription on two lines. 'Certified Executive Chef. Amanda Rose.' Both women looked a bit nervous about meeting the new president.

Olinsky handled the formal introductions. "Madam President, allow me to introduce Dr Nadia Decotis, the Physician to the President, and Amanda Rose, the White House Executive Chef."

"Successful young women. I like that a lot," Burgess said, nodding her approval. She approached Decotis first and shook hands. "Good to meet you Doctor Decotis. May I call you Nadia?"

Upton had to hide a smile. Sometimes Burgess had almost an old fashioned way of speaking to people, a reminder of how conservative she was in many ways. Being raised by her parents likely hadn't been much fun, Upton guessed.

"Pleased to meet you, Madam President," the doctor said. "Yes, please call me Nadia. I need to give you a full medical examination this morning, please."

"Okay, I'll make sure that happens," Burgess said. With that, she moved on to Rose and exchanged another handshake. "Ms Rose, it's nice to meet you. May I call you Amanda?"

"An honour to meet you, Madam President," Rose said humbly. "I prefer Mandy."

"Mandy it is. Just to be honest with you, I like cooking my own food. I'm still going to want to do that, on the rare occasion that time allows."

"Understood, ma'am," Rose said, showing no sign of being offended, although Upton assumed she had to be to some extent.

There were another couple of minutes of conversation, then Olinsky dismissed the two staff members to go about their business. Ruzek, Olinsky, Halstead and Reigns ended up in conversation, leaving Upton with the president.

"I want to thank you, Hailey," Burgess said.

"Thank me, ma'am?"

"Yes. At no point yesterday did I feel like I was in any danger, and that was because I knew you were right there. You're very good at what you do. All I ask is that if you have to direct me to do something, you keep me up to speed with why I'm doing it."

"Thank you, ma'am. And I'll do my best to do that for you," Upton pledged. "However there may be circumstances where I simply have to tell you to come with me right away, or even to drag you away from a dangerous situation. Time to explain may not be something we have the luxury of."

"I'm aware of that," Burgess acknowledged, although it obviously didn't please her.

There was a moment of silence between them, both standing there looking over to the group of men, who seemed to be enjoying their conversation, whatever it was about.

"Forgive me, Hailey, but I believe Agent Halstead likes you," Burgess ventured. "I probably shouldn't say that, should I?"

Upton was surprised again. Burgess had clearly picked up on something between them. There wasn't much point lying to the woman, since she would probably know she was being lied to and that would give a bad impression. But at the same time, Secret Service agents dating each other wasn't exactly the done thing.

"I think I like him too," Upton said carefully. "But I'm worried that it might be inappropriate for us to date each other."

"I don't think it would be," Burgess said conspiratorially. "As long as it didn't effect your work, which I'm sure you're both professional enough to avoid, why would it be a problem? Besides, you've pretty much committed your life to my schedule for at least four years. You'll likely not have much of a chance to date anyone else. One thing I learned with Adam is that when you meet the right person for you, you don't let them pass you by like ships in the night. Anyway, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable by speaking about this."

"No, ma'am, you didn't," Upton half lied. She did take a couple of positives from the exchange, however. Firstly, the president was happy to talk to her on a personal level, which was a good position for any agent to be in with their protectee. And secondly, she had made a decision. To hell with what people might see as inappropriate. She felt something strong for Jay Halstead, and she was going to pursue it and see where it went for them. They'd had sex many times. The next step was to actually start dating. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't wait for their first night out together.


	11. Chapter 11

Hailey Upton followed President Burgess as she walked into the world famous Oval Office for the first time. From this room, her decisions and policies would greatly influence America and the world over the next four years. Hank Voight, Burgess' Chief of Staff, was also with them along with a photographer, who was capturing the moment for posterity.

Agent Halstead was posted just outside the door, so that anyone who came with the intent of harming Burgess had to go through him to even get into the room. If they somehow managed that, they would still have Upton to contend with.

"This is what we worked so hard for, Hank," Burgess said, looking around the room like a kid on a visit to Disney World as she walked over to the big wooden desk.

"Yes, Madam President. But it was people's belief in you as a person rather than faith in the party that won the day. That's why it's vitally important that we deliver on our key campaign pledges if we want to stand a chance in four year's time."

Christ, it's only day one and it's already about re-election, Upton thought as she went to stand against the wall, out of sight and out of mind, even though she was right there in plain sight. That was the art of being a good agent. Upon reflection, she supposed what Voight had said shouldn't have surprised her. Politics was all about winning power, or keeping it if you had it.

Burgess took a seat at the desk, pulling the custom designed chair up to it and putting her hands on the desk top. The only problem was that this was President Hermann's chair. "This isn't very comfortable," the president said.

"There will be someone coming in today to work on a chair for you, and there will be someone coming to discuss how you'd like the Oval decorating."

"Yes. Olinsky said there will be someone talking to me about the residence, too," Burgess said.

"Madam President, can I get a picture of you behind the desk, please?" the photographer requested, crouching down slightly in the middle of the room.

"Sure," Burgess said. She sat upright to pose, leaving her hands on the desktop. She put a professional smile on her face.

She does look very presidential, Upton thought. It surprised her somewhat that she was getting more impressed with Burgess by the day. It was only in politics that they differed greatly.

"Thank you, Madam President," the photographer said.

"Stick around. I want the signing of the executive order photographed," Voight said.

"Yes, sir."

The executive order in question was the one designating protestors as domestic terrorists, as Upton saw it. She opposed the idea deeply, not that her opinion mattered in the slightest. Once the order was signed, the National Guard could be deployed wherever the president decided in order to deal with the so-called terrorists, who would be liable to face ten years in prison, or worse if they were stupid enough to try and resist the National Guard. Unlike the police, those guys wouldn't hesitate to start shooting people if they were faced with violence. It seemed that Burgess was prepared to have American citizens killed by American troops if it meant clearing the streets.

The executive order itself was in a black leather bound folder which had been tucked under Voight's arm. He took obvious pleasure in opening the folder and putting it in front of Burgess.

"My trusty pen," Burgess said with a smile, producing a gold fountain pen from her jacket pocket.

If a pen could ever be impressive, that one was, Upton thought as she watched on. She wondered if it had been a gift from Ruzek or something. Wherever it had come from, it must have cost a lot of money. The big question was how much damage were orders signed with that pen going to do while Burgess was president?

"The hand of history is on me, Hank," Burgess said. "From this moment, we start turning America around. The decline is at an end."

"Yes, ma'am," Voight said, watching her sign the order.

"Step one, end the rioting," Burgess said, admiring the completed executive order for a moment. "We'll give a press briefing to announce this, yes?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's set up for this afternoon," Voight said. "I'll come stand behind you, and we'll get a picture of the executive order."

"I should hold it like this, right?" Burgess said. She held up the open folder so that both pages of the order were visible for the photograph, along with her prominent signature in black ink on the bottom of the second page. From where Upton was standing she could see a big KB in very stylish lettering. And so it was done, for better or worse, she thought as the picture was taken. Burgess sure seemed satisfied with herself.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, the first day of the Burgess presidency had been a frantic one. They likely all would be. The press conference to announce the new executive order had been a particular highlight, promptly sending the media and social media platforms into meltdown. In a position to hear almost all of the president's conversations, Upton had heard that leading Democrats were already talking about impeachment, saying that the order was unconstitutional and broke the presidential oath of office. That line of attack was a waste of time, Upton knew, with Republicans controlling the house and the senate. Hank Voight knew it too, which was why he had laughed as he gave the news to Burgess.

Using the National Guard to defend innocent people against domestic terrorists is as constitutional as it gets," Burgess had said.

Now, with night starting to fall across the country, Upton had gone with the president, Voight, and a group of advisors and military staff to the White House's situation room. From there they would be able to watch and respond to what was happening in any number of cities. Halstead was again posted outside.

"We'll start in Portland, Madam President," said the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Wallace Boden. He was a stern faced, well built African American who spoke with every bit of the authority he commanded. His latest assignment was to take control of the National Guard operations to quell the rioting.

"What's been happening over there is a national embarrassment," Burgess said from her seat at the head of the conference table.

Upton stood behind her protectee, a few feet away. It gave her a perfect view of the large video screen at the opposite end of the room. It now showed a live shot of Portland, the site of the longest ongoing protest in the country. Even Upton had to admit that what she now saw on the screen was a riot. Buildings and cars were burning, abuse was being chanted at Burgess, and placards expressing similar sentiments were being carried, some of them wishing death upon her. And all of this was before it even got dark there.

"Look at those people," Burgess said with genuine nastiness and contempt. "That is what we're fighting here, General Boden. Why don't you tell me what you're doing about it? I want a big statement made tonight. We need to show rioters across the country that we mean business. I want arrests made. I want the streets cleared."

Boden didn't seem to have any emotional reaction to the harangue he had just been subjected to. He simply answered the question in a matter of fact, respectful tone. "I gave the order to deploy ten minutes ago. We're going to have a National Guard presence the likes of which has never been seen in this country before arriving on the scene shortly. They have orders to avoid violence unless provoked, but to make as many arrests as possible. Those orders apply across the country. There will be a lot of arrests made tonight."

"I hope that's true," Burgess said. "Assuming it is, those people are going to do ten years. The main reason I set the penalty so high is to make it a deterrent. People will be a lot less interested in looting a pair of trainers when they realise they might get ten years for it."

"Here come our troops now," Boden said as the shot changed to one that was taken from almost directly overhead.

Drone footage, Upton realised. The drone went higher, offering a wider view of the scene. There were more National Guard humvees and other vehicles than Upton could count, with a shit load police squad cars behind that. Burgess was sending in an army in all senses of the word. The protestors stood no chance against that kind of force, no matter how many of them there were.

Over the next several hours, Upton stood there and watched in horror scenes of violence the likes of which she had never seen a government in a western country inflict on its own people unfold in multiple cities. She saw protestors being tear gassed, beaten, arrested and dragged off like pieces of meat, and in at least two cases, shot. Burgess talked about rioting shaming the country. As far as Upton was concerned, this was one of the most shameful nights in American history. Possibly even worse, she imagined the violence would likely succeed in its aims. People would be a hell of a lot less likely to protest if they were met with that kind of response.

"Okay, General, I think I've seen enough for tonight," Burgess said eventually, getting up from her chair. She looked at Upton, who used all of her professional composure to meet the president's eyes. "Back to the residence, Agent Upton."

"Yes, ma'am," Upton said tensely. She used her wrist microphone to convey Burgess' intentions, and asked for the night shift agents to relieve her and Halstead when they got there.

When they left the situation room Halstead joined Upton in walking along with the president in silence. Upton could tell he picked up something being wrong with her, but he knew that it wasn't the time to ask while they were walking with Burgess.

A couple of minutes later the group reached the stairs up to the residence. The night shift agents were waiting at the bottom.

"Handing over to you," Upton said to her replacement. "Goodnight, Madam President."

"Goodnight, Agent Upton, Agent Halstead," Burgess said, proceeding up the stairs. She also offered greetings to the incoming agents.

"Goodnight, Madam President," Halstead said.

With the commander-in-chief out of sight, Upton walked over to a nearby chair and flopped down on it. She felt like she needed a minute to get her head together after what she had witnessed.

"I'm guessing it was bad?" Halstead said, his tone and expression sympathetic.

"Jay, it was awful," Upton said with a deep sigh. "They were beating the fuck out of protestors, arresting them, gassing them, I even saw at least two shot. I've never been more ashamed to be American. I need a strong drink, I can tell you that."

"How about a strong drink, a meal, and some good company to take your mind off it all?" Halstead suggested.

It sounded perfect to Upton. Just the thought of it had her feeling like she could crack a joke all of a sudden. "Good company? Who's coming with us?"

"Ooof. That's savage, Ms Upton," Halstead said with amusement. "Come on, let's get out of here. I think we've had enough White House and enough politics for one day."

"Amen to that," Upton said as she got up. "Get me to the nearest place where I can get a good single malt."

"Coming right up," he said, and they walked off together, heading for their first date of sorts.


	12. Chapter 12

Trying to get her mind off what she had witnessed in the situation room was difficult for Hailey Upton. If Jay Halstead hadn't been with her, it would have been impossible. Thankfully, he had come through on his promise that he knew of a bar that was nice, but usually not too busy despite not being far from the White House.

"How did you know about this place?" Upton asked as they walked into Molly's Bar. She saw that they wouldn't look out place in their work outfits. Washington suits seemed to make up most of the clientele, even with the lateness of the hour.

"I asked Reigns if he knew anywhere. Said I wanted to take a hot girl out for a drink," Halstead said.

Upton looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Who is she?"

Halstead laughed. "Her name's Hailey. I like her a lot, but she's always busting my balls."

"Aww, I don't bust your balls too much," Upton said as they made their way over to the bar. "But just because you said that, I'll get the first round in. Pick your poison."

"You mentioned wanting a single malt. That works for me. My car will be safe in that parking garage I just left it in, and yours is safe at the White House. What do you say we get wrecked and Uber it back to the hotel?"

"Wrecked? No, I'm not showing up to work for Burgess with a hangover. She'd probably be like, 'Have you been drinking alcohol?' As if it's morally wrong or something. You know how conservative she is."

"I know I saw her putting a decent amount of champagne away on inauguration night, so she's no stranger to alcohol."

"Good point," Upton said. "Anyway, no getting wrecked."

A bartender came over to serve them, and Upton ordered two double shots of the best single malt they had.

"So much for not getting wrecked," Halstead said once they had their drinks. "This isn't going to be a bad start."

"Yeah, well this one's needed," Upton said, promptly downing the double shot in one hit, savouring the burn in her throat.

Halstead raised his glass to her and downed his drink too. With the openers out of the way, he ordered two beers and they went and sat at a small table with two chairs in a corner of the bar.

Talk about anything but work or politics, Upton told herself. The less she thought about politics right now, the better. "Looks like fans will be back in stadiums for the baseball season," she said. It was the first thing that had come to mind.

"Yeah. That'll make it good to watch. Sport without fans makes you realise how much a crowd adds to the spectacle. I've found it impossible to enjoy watching anything this past year. Crazy isn't it, the virus started nearly a year ago?"

"That is crazy," Upton agreed. She didn't want to get into talking about the virus. That way lay potential politics chat. "The White Sox look good for this year. I'd love to get to a game if the chance somehow presents itself."

"Well, we are entitled to two weeks of annual leave per year, whenever they can afford to lose us from Burgess' detail."

"True, but I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to take our leave at the same time," Upton pointed out.

"Yeah, I may not have thought that through," Halstead said slowly, making Upton laugh again.

"You never know, we might be able to work something out with Chief Platt. There certainly wouldn't be any harm in asking."

"You're right. If we did get manage to get a week off together though, I think we should do more than go to a baseball game. We should go on a proper vacation. Somewhere with hot weather, white sand beaches, and good night life."

"Sign me the hell up for that," Upton said dreamily. "It's been years since I had a proper vacation."

"One way or another, we'll make it happen," he pledged.

Upton didn't know if it was a promise he would be able to keep, but she sure hoped he would.

They chatted away over a couple of beers, and Upton was able to properly unwind.

"How are you finding the hotel? I'm thinking we might be there for some time," she said as she started on her third beer.

"I'm thinking that too, looking at the property prices around here. I need my inheritance to come through just to avoid the rent on a place in this city. Unless it's a one bedroom condo that comes with a hole in the roof, rain damage as a feature, and a luxury cockroach colony."

Upton laughed. His humour had resonated with her since day one. It was the thing she liked most of all about him, and after an awful evening at work a good laugh was much needed.

"The prices are extraordinary, aren't they? I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I had a look. Thankfully I don't think the hotel is too bad, since I might be there for four years."

"Yeah. I asked Reigns if he might be interested in renting a place together, but he's already got an arrangement with another agent. The only way I could see of affording somewhere was to split the cost."

Oh, Upton thought, pleasantly surprised. She realised that he was carefully leaving her an opening if she wanted to offer to share a place with him, doing so in such a way that she could smoothly move past it and there would be no awkwardness between them if she didn't want to go for it.

But did she want to go for it? It would obviously have been too early to consider moving in together in a regular relationship. But theirs was not an ordinary relationship. They worked together in one of the most unordinary jobs in the world, not to mention the fact that they were trying to live out of hotel rooms. Overall, she kind of liked the idea of them renting a place together, but she had a concern that moving in together so soon might not be a good thing for their budding relationship. She decided it was probably best to be honest with him about it and see what response she got.

"Maybe we could club together for a place, Jay? My only concern would be that it's early in our relationship for us to move in together. What if it didn't work out for us? We'd be left committed to a place that at least one of us wouldn't want to live in."

Halstead took a hit from his beer. "I don't think that would happen to us."

"Neither do I. But it's an eventuality we need to consider before we think about signing up to rent a place for a year or whatever."

"Hmmm," he said thoughtfully. "Alright, what about this. If we did this, I'd rent the place under my name and you'd pay me half the money. If it didn't work out, you could move out, back into a hotel or whatever, and I'd stay in our place and find a way to pay for it."

"What way would you find to pay for it?" Upton asked. In her mind it was all well and good for her to have an out, but she didn't want him potentially left in the shit either.

"I'll cross that bridge if I come to it. I could get a housemate or something. So, do we have a plan?"

"Yes, Jay, I think we do." Upton raised her beer bottle and Halstead clinked his against it.

"Another beer?" he suggested after downing the rest of his.

"I was thinking we could maybe hit a club? I'm feeling buzzed, and I'm in the mood for some loud music."

"I can get on-board with that. But fair warning, I can't dance worth a damn."

"Of course you can. Anyone can dance when they've had a few drinks. Just enjoy the music and let yourself go."

"You're very persuasive, Ms Upton," he said with a smile.

"One of my better talents," she smiled back. "Come on, let's go find a club."

Ten minutes later, after Halstead had done a bit of research into where the closest club with a decent reputation was, they walked into an establishment that was having a night themed around dance music from the 90s. The place was quite busy, but there was room on the dancefloor. They went to the bar and Upton ordered shots of single malt for them.

"I thought we weren't getting wrecked?" Halstead said with a laugh, speaking loudly over the pounding music.

"We're not. We're getting drunk," she giggled. "You know, Jay, this is possibly my favourite era for music. Let's get on the dancefloor."

"You don't have to ask me twice," Halstead said, promptly downing his shot and slamming the glass down on the bar.

Upton was only a fraction of a second behind him. She took his hand and led him to the dancefloor. With the alcohol limiting her inhibitions, she was more interested in making out with him than dancing. So that was what she started doing as soon as their bodies got into some vague rhythm with the music.

"Mmmm. That's how it's going to be?" he asked, pleasure obvious in his voice as she moved from kissing him to sucking his neck.

"Yes," she breathed into his ear as he held her in his arms.

They spent a few minutes smooching and kissing each other's necks before Upton admitted to herself that the club was the last place she actually wanted to be. Jay Halstead lit a fire under her sexual appetite that she couldn't control.

"Let's get out of here, Jay," she said into his ear.

"You just paid for us to get in!"

"I don't care. Take me back to your hotel room and fuck me."

Halstead pulled back slightly and looked her in the eye. She could tell by his expression that he liked that kind of talk. That was something to commit to memory.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, needing no further prompting. He already had his phone out to get them an Uber.

Hand in hand, they left the club. Hailey Upton couldn't remember enjoying a relationship anything like as much. She wondered if maybe she was in love.


	13. Chapter 13

So much for not showing up to work with a hangover, Upton thought as she walked up the stairs to the White House residence. Her head felt like someone had played a particularly long game of football in it. At least she had the memories of a great night out and some amazing sex, which made the hangover worth it.

At the top of the stairs, she found the two night shift agents talking with Halstead. Although they had shared his hotel room, they had taken separate Uber rides to work. He had left first, heading over to fetch his car from the parking garage where he had left it.

"Morning. Nothing to report. Eagle is in the living room with visitors. Handing over to you," Upton's stand-in said.

"Thank you. Morning all," Upton said, making like she hadn't seen Halstead since the end of shift the previous night.

"Morning. How was your night?" Halstead asked as the night shift started down the stairs. There was a gleam of mischief in his eyes that only Upton could see.

"I've had better," she replied coyly.

"Liar," Halstead said with amusement now that their colleagues were out of earshot.

They walked through to the living room, where they found Burgess, Ruzek, Voight, Atwater and Vega sitting on the couches, engaged in conversation.

"Back to the grind," Halstead said as the agents split up into the usual arrangement; Upton in the room with the president, Halstead outside as a potential first line of defence.

Walking over and standing against the wall, Upton felt like sighing. The ongoing conversation was the Burgess team glorifying in what had been done to the 'rioters' the previous night. It was just what she didn't want to hear after managing to get the horrific scenes out of her head once already.

"More than five hundred arrests made across the country under the executive order," Voight took obvious pleasure in saying. "Each one of them is looking at ten years in prison. Safe to say that ought to be a deterrent to a fair number of people who might have planned on being on the streets tonight."

"We're going to need to start looking into reopening some prisons and building more. Maybe we can have Dawson oversee that," Burgess said. "This administration is going to be the toughest on law and order this country has had. Everyone here agreed on that at the start of the campaign. Now we make it a reality. In the more immediate future, we're going to see a reduction in the rioting tonight, I assume. We're going to hit them hard again. It won't take long to break them."

To break them, Upton thought with disgust. Even the language used about the protestors was appalling.

The conversation turned to discussion of a presidential press conference, with the National Guard operation from the previous night being the subject. Voight briefed Burgess on what questions she was likely to face, and Atwater gave her some advice on the journalists he knew. To Upton he sounded very competent, and she saw the advantage for Burgess in having a black man give press briefings for a regime that the media described as racist.

But Atwater wasn't giving this morning's briefing. About twenty minutes after Upton had arrived, it was Burgess who got up to go and do that job.

"Morning, Hailey," Burgess said cheerfully when they made eye contact for the first time.

"Good morning, Madam President," Upton said. She wondered if Burgess ever actually slept. Since taking this job, no matter what time she arrived for work, the president had her makeup and hair done, and today looked to be glowing with vitality in her smart dark blue suit. By contrast, Upton felt like a vat of warmed up shit.

"You look pale. Are you unwell?"

"I woke up with a headache, ma'am, but I took some aspirin and I'll be fine," Upton said.

"Could be worse. You could have my day ahead of you. I've got a press conference, followed by an intelligence briefing, followed by congratulatory phone calls from other world leaders. Having the same conversation twenty times over promises to be a lot of fun."

"Sorry about that, ma'am," Upton said. Not for the first time, she was thrown off by the fact that she found herself alternating between liking and hating Kim Burgess. Any time they had a one on one conversation, she felt like they got along well. But any time the president was running the country, Upton felt sick to her stomach at what she was forced to watch and listen to.

"Right, let's do it," Burgess said to the group as a whole, heading out of the living room with Upton beside her. The rest of the group fell in behind them, along with Halstead. No one walked ahead of the president.

"You'll be in the briefing room?" Burgess asked.

"Yes, Madam President," Upton said. "I'll be there as always, out of sight in plain sight."

"I like how you put that," Burgess smiled as they started down the stairs, leaving the residence on the way to the West Wing.

The journalists were already in the briefing room, waiting for the briefing to start, Upton learned through her earpiece.

"Starting tomorrow, we're going to start running again," Burgess said. "8AM sharp. We'll start with two miles a day this week because it's been a while. Next week, we'll up it to three. I miss the fresh air and the exercise in the morning. Is that a problem for you?"

"No, ma'am." Actually, Upton was glad to hear that Burgess was bringing her morning exercise back, for it forced her to exercise also. The drawback was that the only option for running when the president was at the White House was for them to do it in public, which made it a serious headache for the Secret Service. She knew previous presidents had liked to run, so there would at least be routes and procedures in place to fall back on. "I'll speak to Chief Platt after the press briefing. The arrangements will be made for tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Hailey," Burgess said, looking pleased with the way her request, which of course hadn't really been a request, had been dealt with efficiently. Upton had heard first hand over the past couple of months that quite a tongue lashing could be inflicted on those who didn't do so well. Burgess had no patience for incompetence or failure.

The large group soon reached the press briefing room. Before going in, Burgess stopped for another word with Voight. Upton followed Vega and Atwater into the room, leaving Halstead outside. The two members of the president's team took seats at the side of the room, and Upton moved over to stand near them.

All of the seats available to the media were occupied. No one wanted to miss out on the first opportunity to grill the new president, especially after the events of the previous day and evening. There had been a press conference the previous day to announce the executive order, but no questions had been taken at that one. Looking around the room from her position against the wall, Upton couldn't see a face that didn't have a hostile expression on it.

They're going to savage her, she thought. And there was the weird conflict in her head again. She didn't want the Kim Burgess she had come to quite like personally to be attacked. But the president Burgess who had sat in the situation room and calmly watched the National Guard attacking her own citizens absolutely deserved to be ripped apart on live television.

The sound of cameras frantically clicking greeted President Burgess as she walked into the room and up to the lectern. "Good morning. It's nice to see a full room, and I hope everyone's well?"

With that, Burgess launched into a reminder of what had been contained in the executive order, followed by the administration's version of the night's events. As Burgess told it, the arrest of hundreds of 'domestic terrorists' and the clearing of the streets sounded like one of the best things in American history. Upton and the media saw it otherwise, of course.

After Burgess was done speaking, it was time for questions from the media. They tore into her right away, beginning, as expected, with questions about whether the executive order was unconstitutional.

As the questioning went on, Upton found herself thinking that Burgess was fending for herself very well, using her natural charisma to not only get through the questions, but to do it was aplomb and even some humour.

"Yes," Burgess said, pointing to the next reporter for a question.

A man in his late fifties with grey hair stood up. "Madam President, one of the main reasons for the ongoing protests is the ideas and policies that your administration stands for are perceived as far-right. That's why people are on the streets. And it's not only in this country. People are on the streets in European countries too in protest against your Presidency. In France, for example, they're marching in their thousands against fascism..."

"Something they singularly failed to do in 1940," Burgess cut in.

Oh shit, Upton thought as there was a collective intake of breath in the room. It was the first diplomatic lapse she had heard Burgess make since meeting her, and it was quite a big one. Diplomatic relations with France had just been set back a long way with that jibe at their speedy capitulation at the start of World War Two.

At the end of the press conference, Voight was waiting outside the room, looking less than pleased. Upton looked forward to his reaction, since the chief of staff was the only one allowed to come close to reprimanding the president.

"Safe to say we're going to have some apologising to do when the French president calls," Voight said.

"Yeah, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to say, was it?" Burgess said with a small sigh.

"Not exactly, no."

The group started walking towards the Oval Office, and Upton hung back so that Halstead could fall in step with her.

"What did she say?" he asked quietly.

"A reporter said the French are marching on the streets again fascism. She said something like they might have tried that in 1940."

"Oh man," Halstead chuckled. "Open mouth, insert foot."

"Yeah, exactly. I guess our president doesn't have much respect for our friends in France, and she went ahead and ran that message up the flag pole."

Halstead chuckled, and promptly changed the subject. "So, tonight. I'm thinking a room service dinner, a bottle of wine and a start to our search for an apartment."

"That sounds like a fine plan, Agent Halstead," Upton smiled. "We'll chat more about it later."

* * *

Boredom could be a big problem for Secret Service agents when there was nothing going on. After several hours standing against the wall in the Oval Office while Burgess received phone calls and discussed their content with her staff, Upton's mind was drifting. She was starting to daydream about apartments. Between her and Halstead, she hoped they would have enough money to afford somewhere at least decent. Amazing would be out of their price range. But she hoped they would be able to find a place high up in a building, with a balcony and a nice view. She had always wanted to be able to sit out on a balcony in beautiful summer weather, glass of wine in hand..."

"Look like those are pleasant thoughts," Burgess said, snapping Upton out of the daydream. Temporarily it was only her and the president in the room, and she had been spotted with a dreamy, unfocussed look on her face.

"Uh, yes, ma'am. Agent Halstead and I are going to rent an apartment together. As friends, I mean. We need to club together in order to afford it." Whether the lie about friends had worked, she couldn't tell. Burgess had a good poker face.

"I may be able to help you there," the president said, taking her cell phone out if her jacket pocket. "Have you got your phone with you?"

"Yes, ma'am." Upton took her phone out too. She always kept it with her when she was on duty, always in silent mode.

"Give this guy a call. Sean Roman. He's a friend of mine. He owns Roman Real Estate. They've got offices in several cities, including one here in Washington. They own plenty of properties that they rent out, so tell him I gave you his number and he'll take good care of you. In fact I'll call him later. He owes me a favour, so I'll call it in."

"Thanks, ma'am, that's really good of you. I appreciate it," Upton smiled.

"You're welcome. You take the number anyway, and maybe call him tomorrow after I've put in the word for you."

Burgess read out the phone number, and Upton saved it into her phone. That's going to be something to tell Jay, she thought. Cheap rental on apartments courtesy of the president. It paid to have friends in high places. Friend? Surely that had to be the wrong word to describe Kim Burgess, didn't it?


	14. Chapter 14

"So, here's a surprise for you," Upton said to Halstead said as she walked over to him with two glasses of wine in hand. They were in her hotel room, about to start using his laptop to begin their apartment search.

"Burgess owns a mansion in Washington and she's giving it to us for free?" he guessed, looking up at her from the small couch he was sitting on, the laptop on an equally small table in front of him.

Upton laughed. "Unfortunately the news isn't that good, but it actually does involve Burgess." She handed one of the glasses to him and sat down beside him.

"Thanks. Is she resigning?"

"Jay!" Upton cried, laughing again. "No, she's not resigning. She has actually helped us out big time believe it or not."

Halstead took a large sip from is wine glass. "That's good wine. What did she do to help us?"

"She knows a guy, Sean Roman, who runs a real estate company with an office here. They're called Roman Real Estate. Apparently they own some properties and rent them out. Burgess said she was going to call Roman and cash-in a favour, so we'd get a good deal on a place. I'm to call him this evening before we start searching."

"Well that was really kind of her. How can the same person seem so kind and so awful?"

Upton shook her head. "That's what I keep asking myself. It feels truly bizarre sometimes being around her. But right now, who cares? She's hooked us up, hopefully, with a way to avoid somewhere nice to live. I'll give this Roman guy a call and see what he has to say for himself."

"Sounds like a plan." He sat back and sipped his wine while Upton took out her phone.

Finding the name Sean Roman in her contacts, Upton called the number. She hoped Burgess had made a call as promised, otherwise this was about to be awkward. After a few rings, the call was answered.

"Sean Roman."

"Uh, good evening," Upton began awkwardly. "My name is Hayley Upton. I'm the primary Secret Service agent for President Burgess."

"Ah, yes, Kim said you'd be calling. You're looking to rent an apartment, right?"

Kim, Upton noted. This guy clearly was a friend of Burgess. "That's right. The president said you would be able to do me and my, uh, fellow agent a favour on the cost?"

"That I can. What you're going to do is look on the Roman Real Estate website. Search rentals and Washington DC using the filter. You will notice that some of the listings have our company logo in them. Those are the properties we own directly. I can offer any of those to you at half price. Arrange some viewings with the Washington office, and once you've found a place you like, call me again with the details and I'll get it taken care of for you. Sound good?"

"Sounds great, thank you very much," Upton said happily, ignoring the tone of arrogance that had been in his voice. Such was the way with a lot of rich people.

"Okay, enjoy your search. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mr Roman. Thanks again."

The line went dead, so Upton put her phone aside on the arm of the couch.

"That sounded positive," Halstead said.

Upton drank some of her wine. "It was. He said there are some rental properties on their website that are owned by the company. If we find one of them we like, he's going to rent it to us half price."

"Oh, nice! Half price could save us a lot of money."

"Yeah. Honestly, I don't need a housemate anymore, so I don't know what you're going to do."

They both laughed at her joke as he leant forward and picked up the laptop and handed it to her. "What would you most like in an apartment?" he asked.

"I've always wanted to live high up in a building and have a balcony with an amazing view. And I have to have a decent sized kitchen. How about you?"

"I've always liked open plan layouts. But honestly, give me a nice apartment in a nice building, with decent neighbours, with a big TV and a good sound system, and I'm happy."

"Men," Upton said, rolling her eyes.

"What? Are you telling me you don't want a big TV and a good sound system?" he said with amusement.

"No, I'm saying it's not my top priority when I search for an apartment," Upton said dryly.

"No, the first thing you mentioned was the kitchen, appropriately."

Upton laughed at the strong banter. "You're on your way to getting your ass beat, mister. And I didn't even mention the kitchen first."

"No, maybe you didn't," he conceded, and they both laughed again.

After another hit from her wine glass, Upton turned her attention to the laptop. "Right, let's have a look what they've got."

As directed by Roman, Upton pulled up the Roman Real Estate website and used the search filter to find available rental properties in Washington, DC. Four pages of results came up, but they were not all options for their half price offer. "Okay, so we need to look at the ones with the company logo in the listings. Let's see what we've got to choose from."

"Before we do that, we should have a toast," Halstead said, becoming more serious. He raised his glass. "To finding a home."

Upton looked at him and got a warm feeling in her chest. They had a lot of laughs and banter, but she also felt something very deep for him. She hoped he felt the same. The look in his eyes told her that he probably did. She clinked her glass against his. "To finding a home."

They both sipped some wine, then Upton leaned in and kissed him on the lips. She felt happy, and full of hope for what lay ahead.

* * *

Looking forward to a two mile run was something a lot of people would have considered crazy. But Hailey Upton had been looking forward to her first morning run with President Burgess, at least from a personal point of view. The exercise was just what she needed, and there was the possibility of a personal conversation with Burgess, which usually seemed to go well. On the other hand, there was the possibility of a conversation about politics, which would be a lot less enjoyable.

From a professional point of view it was a different story. Organising security for the president's two mile morning runs, shortly to be become three miles runs, was a colossal pain in the ass. Upton was running with Burgess, but that was only scratching the surface of the operation. Other agents, including Halstead, were stationed around the route, and others would be close by in cars. Not for the first time, Upton felt glad she wasn't in charge of organising the protection detail. She was happy merely being a key part of it.

"Did you call Sean Roman?" Burgess asked about a minute into the run.

Upton was delighted that their conversation was apparently going to be of a personal nature, not political. Talking about the previous night's second violent intervention by the National Guard against the protestors was certainly not something she wanted to get involved in, not least because Burgess' tactics seemed to be working. The protestors were being forced from the streets, either in fear or behind bars. Deciding it was best not to think about any of that, she answered the question. "Yes, ma'am."

"How did that go? I hope he helped you out?"

"He did," Upton was happy to report. "He offered me half price rental on any of the properties they own. We've put together a shortlist of four, and we're going to arrange viewings. Thank you for hooking me up with that. I appreciate it."

"That's some good news to start the day. Hopefully you'll find somewhere you like."

"They looked very nice on the website, so yeah, I think we should find one we like."

"That's good. I remember you told me you're a White Sox fan. It pains me to say it, but they look good for the coming season."

"Better than the Cubs," Upton said, risking a jab at the president's team of choice. She even had a Cubs beanie hat on. Looking presidential didn't matter for the morning run.

"Careful, Upton, you might end up eating those words," Burgess said with humour. "Are there any other sports that interest you?"

"Not really to be honest. I'm a binge watcher of TV series when there's no baseball to watch. How about you?"

"I watch a bit of NBA from time to time. As you know from when we were in Hawaii, I like water sports."

"Yes, I remember," Upton said. Almost every day while they had been there, Burgess and Ruzek had been in or on the water, jet skiing, surfing or snorkelling.

"When the time comes for my first vacation, we're going somewhere where the waters are warm and the scuba diving is good. Hey, does that mean you need to learn? Would you have to go down there with me?"

"I actually don't know. I'd have to check on that. I don't think I would if it's just you and the First Gentleman diving. If there were other people there too I probably would. I've never thought about trying to fight someone off underwater before. I guess it's a good job I'm not afraid of the water."

Burgess laughed, finding it more amusing than Upton did. "Let's hope it wouldn't come to fighting someone down there. I'm hoping it doesn't come to fighting this morning, either. I read that past presidents used to enjoy meeting the public on their morning runs."

Yes, but they were a bit more popular in Washington than you are, Upton couldn't say.

They chatted away pleasantly as they ran, both working up a good sweat despite the cold. When they started encountering the public, most of them also out running, Upton was surprised that most people reacted pleasantly to seeing Burgess, some of them even seeming star struck. There were exceptions, of course. Some people ignored her. One guy went even further, shouting from about 30 yards away.

"Fuck you, Burgess! Racist bitch!"

"Charming," Burgess commented to Upton. "You know, I have no idea why people call me racist. I don't care what colour or creed a person is, or by what name they call God. We're all Americans. I simply insist on law and order in my country. Besides, most of the people we've arrested for rioting have been white. The argument doesn't even make sense."

"Maybe people don't understand your views on the subject?" Upton said diplomatically.

"The people who say things like that don't want to understand my views. They want to attribute views to me that they think I have in order to portray me as an evil person, and the media is all too glad to help them do it. In that regard, it's a sad age we're living in because people buy into it. I mean, you didn't vote for me, Hailey. Do you think I'm a racist?"

Saying yes obviously wasn't an option. But Upton realised that it wasn't the answer she wanted to give anyway, because the truth was she didn't believe Burgess was a racist. The realisation surprised her somewhat. "No, ma'am, I don't think you're a racist. I think you and I see the world in different ways."

"And there's nothing wrong with that. Differing views or not, what we both want is America to be successful, and that's what I'm going to make sure happens. Once we've got the rioting under control, we can really start moving forward on jobs and the economy. We're at a point where we need strong recovery, and we will get strong recovery."

The Burgess stridency was returning, as it tended to when politics was the subject. But for the first time, Upton found herself believing in the president to an extent. It surprised her, and she wasn't sure she liked it given that she considered herself an opponent of Burgess politically.

"I hope that happens, Madam President. I really do," she said honestly.


	15. Chapter 15

President Burgess' morning run had been postponed. Every morning, she was given a briefing by her Intelligence Advisor, who belonged to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. Upon Burgess' inauguration, the advisor position had been given to the youngest member of the board, possibly because she happened to be the only female on it, and Burgess might respond better to advice from a woman. That was Hailey Upton's guess anyway. The new advisor, Sylvie Brett, also happened to be a year younger than the president. Brett had requested that this morning's briefing time slot be extended, which had bounced the run up to lunch time on the schedule.

"Good morning, Madam President," Brett said as she walked into the Oval Office along with Hank Voight, who also sat in on the daily briefings.

"Morning, Brett. How are you?" Burgess asked, coming around her desk for a handshake.

"I'm well thank you, Madam President. How are you?"

"I'm three days into get back to running two miles each morning, after not running for a couple of months. It's hard on the legs until you get used to it again."

I hear you on that, Upton thought as she watched the pleasantries being exchanged. She hadn't merited a greeting from Brett of course. It was likely that she hadn't even been noticed. She was good at looking like an ornament until she was required to do something.

"So, Brett, I understand you have something for me today?" Burgess said.

The Oval Office had two cream coloured couches facing each other, with an oak coffee table in between them. The president liked to do most of her talking to visitors there, as opposed to at her desk. For this meeting, Burgess and Voight sat on one couch, Brett opposite them.

"Yes, ma'am." Brett opened the leather bound folder she had brought with her and withdrew several items from it.

From where she was standing, Upton was able to see several satellite images, a map, and a bunch of photographs stacked up. She had no idea what was going on, but along with Burgess, she was about to find out.

"Madam President, as you're aware, the war in Syria ended under the previous administration, and all American troops were withdrawn from the country. There were some American civilians who were not so lucky. They are being held in a camp by rebels who are loyal to the country's previous regime."

The first things Brett put on the table were satellite images of the camp in question. They matched the description, for they showed not much more than a bunch of light grey tents on a desert floor. A fence could be made out, as well as a couple of primitive guard towers.

"How many Americans?" Burgess asked, leaning in to look at the pictures.

"Six for sure, all volunteer medics that were abducted and taken there. There are a total of eleven medics missing in Syria, and we believe they may all be in the camp, or at least have been taken there. We don't have intel on how many are currently alive. Some or maybe all of them may have been tortured and murdered."

"That's awful," Burgess said. "What are you pitching to me, a rescue mission?"

"Yes, ma'am. The plan entails sending in two helicopters of Delta Force troops. Their mission will be to eliminate all hostile forces and to rescue any surviving prisoners."

Brett went on to lay out the logistics of the proposed mission in more detail.

"If you think some of the prisoners might have been killed, how do you know they all haven't?" Voight asked.

"Unfortunately the simple answer, sir, is we don't. Our intel source went dark a month ago, which is why I'm so damn angry that..." Brett caught herself. "I apologise. What I meant was..."

"Continue with what you were going to say," Burgess instructed her.

"Madam President, I..."

"I said continue with what you were going to say," Burgess ordered again, this time with a little more force in her voice.

Brett took a deep breath and did as she had been instructed. "I'm angry because this mission was pitched to President Herrmann and he turned it down. Said it was too risky. It's possible that captive's lives have been lost between then and now."

"So your opinion is I should green light this mission?"

Brett hesitated again. Her job was to provide information and analysis, not her opinions. But she answered the question nonetheless. "I think if there are Americans out there who can be saved, we have a duty to try and save them and bring them home."

Amen to that, Upton thought.

"How many rebels in the camp?" Burgess asked next.

"We think around ten at any one time, fifteen at most. It's not a risk-free operation by any means, ma'am, but I think..."

"Relax, Brett, you sold me. I'm going to have General Boden in here this afternoon to work this thing up. Hank, get on that when we're done here."

"Yes, ma'am," Voight said.

"We know who the captives are?" Burgess asked Brett.

"We know who the eleven missing medics are. As I said before, we don't know how many or which ones are there, or if they're still alive."

"But we know who they are, and who their families are, yes?"

"We do," Brett confirmed, sounding unsure about the direction the conversation was going to go in.

"Have someone contact them and tell them the Burgess administration are going to do whatever we can to find their loved ones and bring them home."

"Madam President, that's not the kind of thing we should do, especially before we've confirmed the mission," Voight cautioned her. "As a minimum we should wait until you've spoken to General Boden."

Burgess considered his advice. "Alright, fine. Wait until the mission is confirmed, then we tell the families we're going to help them."

An hour later, with all of the relevant business attended to, Brett and Voight left the Oval Office. Only Upton and the president remained.

"How are you, Hailey?" the boss asked as she went and sat down at her desk. It was the first chance they'd had to talk since Upton had reported for duty.

"I'm well, Madam President, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm okay. Looking forward to our run. How's the apartment search going?"

"Roman Real Estate are being good to us. They've been meeting us for viewings after work. So far we've viewed two of the four apartments we put on our shortlist, but we're not going to take either of them."

"Why?" Burgess asked. She had started reading a document of some kind, but she was still listening.

"The first one we saw, the building wasn't great. It wasn't in a great state of repair, and we smelled weed in there."

"Ugh," Burgess grunted, scrunching her face up in disgust. Her evident opinion of drugs wasn't surprising, coming from a conservative.

"The second one we viewed, the building was fine and we quite liked the apartment, but the area it was in was a bit rough, and the deal breaker was the view from the balcony sucked. It looked across another apartment block's garbage can area. There were bags and stuff dumped everywhere and the smell was awful. I'm thinking there would have been rats there too."

"That's disgusting. Well, better luck with the next viewing."

"Thanks, ma'am."

The next viewing was going to be that evening. Upton thought that with the way things were going the good luck might be needed.

* * *

"Third time lucky?" Jay Halstead said as he pulled his car up outside of a modern apartment block of fifteen floors. Even at night, the lights from inside it did enough to show off how stylish it was. He and Hailey knew what it looked like already of course, thanks to the photos on the Roman Real Estate website.

A couple of cars up from where Jay had parked, a smartly-dressed man with grey hair was standing next to a black Mercedes that gleamed under the streetlights. It would have been hard to pick someone to look more like a stereotypical real estate agent.

"I guess that's our guy," Upton said from the passenger seat.

"I think that's a safe bet," Halstead chuckled. "So far, so good. The neighbourhood looks good and so does the building."

Upton agreed. The homes they had been driving by for the past couple of minutes had been fairly big detached affairs, the type that suits from DC would own with their husbands or wives and their two kids. All that mattered from her point of view was that it seemed like a quiet, low crime area.

"Yes, you're right," she said. "Let's hope the apartment itself matches the first impression."

They got out of the car and met the real estate agent, who had approached them.

"Hi. Are you here to view apartment 72?" he asked.

"We are. I'm Jay Halstead."

A handshake was exchanged while Upton walked around the car.

"Benny Severide," the agent said.

"Hailey Upton," she said, offering her hand.

"Good to meet you," Severide said as they shook hands. "Shall we go inside?"

"Let's do it," Halstead said.

They entered the building, with Severide getting into his sales patter. Upton did her best to blank it out and form her own first impressions. She didn't need someone to talk her into renting a place, she was more than capable of deciding for herself if she wanted it.

The building looked as modern inside as it did out. There was a front desk with a young man in an expensive suit sitting behind it. The fact that he showed no reaction to them or Severide showed that the real estate agent had likely made himself known before his clients arrived.

"Two elevators is good," Halstead said as they approached them. "At least if one goes out of service there will still be one to use."

"There's a big freight elevator around back for use when you move in," Severide said.

Upton smiled, noting his use of the word when. An elevator arrived, and they took it up to the top floor. They were about to view the most expensive of the apartments on their shortlist, but with the half price offer from Sean Roman that was a lot less of an issue.

There were four apartments on the top floor. 72 was to the left as they stepped out of the elevator. Severide led the way over to the door and unlocked it. He walked in and held the door for them, going right back into his sales patter.

The front door opened into an open plan kitchen and living area, with a breakfast bar dividing them. The walls were decorated with pale, neutral colours. The kitchen was fairly sizeable, and had space for all the requisite appliances. The cooker was not a cheap one, Upton saw. There was plenty of cupboard space, too.

"How do you like it?" Halstead asked. Standing next to her, he joined her in looking over the kitchen. "I know it was one of your deal breakers."

"It's not the biggest kitchen in the world, but it'll do. It's open plan, which you wanted."

Halstead walked through to the living area. "Yeah, this looks great to me. Spacious, room on the wall there for a big ass TV. We could have a big couch here, with speakers either side of it."

Men, Upton thought. At least he was happy, though. Personally, she was more struck by the far wall, which was almost entirely glazed. There were French doors that opened out onto a balcony. A balcony with a beautiful view was something she had always wanted. A glazed wall offering the living space that same view was a bonus.

"Can we go out there?" she asked Severide, pointing to the doors.

"Sure."

Even before he opened the doors, Upton fell in love with the view. The apartment was at the back of the building, facing towards downtown DC a few miles away. It was the only tall building nearby, which guaranteed it a breath-taking view of the city skyline. Even at night it was beautiful.

"Oh, Jay, I love it. Look at it!" Upton gushed as they stepped out onto the balcony. Imagine having a little table and chairs set out here. We could sit out here at night with a drink, or in the morning for breakfast."

"It is pretty stunning," Halstead said beside her.

Upton nestled against him and put an arm around his waist. She felt on top of the world that this could be their home. "We'll look at the rest of the rooms, but Jay, I can't pass up this place."

"It is very nice. Let's have a look at the rest of it before we decide anything, though."

And so they did. The master bedroom was fairly sizeable, and had its own small bathroom. Sadly for Upton there was no walk in closet, something she loved having in her Chicago home, but it was something she could live without.

There was a second bedroom, so small it was barely worthy of the description. Upton figured they could use it for storage or something.

Finally there was the main bathroom. It was clean and nice, if unspectacular. If she was honest with herself, Upton didn't care. Her mind was made up. The only question was what her boyfriend wanted to do.

"Jay?" she asked when they returned to the living area, where Severide had waited while they looked around.

Not needing her to confirm her opinion, Halstead turned and looked at the real estate agent.

"We'll take it."


	16. Chapter 16

"So, who's having the small bedroom? Should we draw straws or flip a coin for it?" Halstead asked.

A week after viewing the apartment, Hailey and Jay were moving in. They were currently stacking boxes from the first elevator load of things that the removal men had sent up to them. They had both been able to enlist the help of friends back in Chicago to have some of their things packed and handed over to the removal men at that end.

The question took Upton by surprise. From minute one she had just assumed that she and Halstead would sleep together in the master bedroom. The fact that he might not feel the same way left her not knowing what to say. She stood there in the kitchen looking dumbstruck at him across the breakfast bar.

"I assumed we would sleep together," she said awkwardly after a moment. "I mean, we've been sleeping together every night at the hotel."

Then Jay's poker face gave up the ghost and he burst out laughing. "Your face! I got you good there! Of course we're going to sleep together. Besides, we only have one bed, so what would you sleep in the other bedroom with?"

"Smart ass," Upton said as she threw a dish towel at him, which he allowed to land over her his head, covering his face.

"Charming," he said from underneath it.

"You're such an idiot," she said, laughing.

Halstead removed the towel from his head and tossed it back to her. "I'd rather be an idiot than boring."

"I'd rather you be an idiot than boring too," Upton said as they went back to stacking the boxes in groups based on which room they needed to end up in before being unpacked.

"What the hell smells so bad?" Upton asked a couple of minutes later. "It's coming from somewhere in this kitchen."

Finished with his boxes, Halstead walked into the kitchen to join her, putting his arms around her from behind. "It's silicone, from one of those 'minor maintenance issues' that forced us to wait a week to get the keys. My guess? It's coming from under the sink. It'll fade in a couple of days. What matters is we're here now, in our own apartment."

Upton turned to face him, his arms still around her. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and kissed him on the lips. "Amazing, isn't it? I'm very happy, Jay."

"Me too, Hailey. Happier than I can remember."

"Here's your second load!" one of the removal men called out from out in the elevator lobby, spoiling the moment.

"The quicker we get it done, the sooner it's over with," Jay said to her, and they trudged out of the apartment to get some of the next load of boxes.

* * *

"Well, that was our one day off for the week. I can't say it felt like a day off," Halstead said. He was at least feeling a little refreshed, having just taken a shower. He found Upton in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of champagne from the bottle he had bought to celebrate the momentous day.

"What's the shower like?" she asked.

"Honestly, the pressure isn't amazing. But it's not too bad. You won't be using it tonight, though. We're going to have those glasses of champagne out on the balcony, then I'm going to draw you a bath, then we're going to bed."

"Mmm," Upton purred happily as she handed one of the glasses to him. "That sounds like a perfect end to a perfect day. Although the entire apartment smells of pizza," she added.

"You weren't complaining when you were eating it," he reminded her.

"True," she giggled. "Come on, let's go and drink these out on the balcony."

Champagne glasses in hand, they went over to the French doors. Upton opened them, and they walked out onto the balcony.

"We need to get a table and chairs ordered for out here as soon as we can," she said. Currently, the balcony was just an empty space outside their apartment. Nonetheless, the amazing view was still there for them to enjoy.

"We do. Beautiful, isn't it?" Halstead said, looking at the lights of the Washington skyline.

"It really is. What a view we have. We should drink to our home."

Halstead responded by clinking his glass against hers, and they both drank.

In that moment, on the balcony of their new apartment, with a beautiful backdrop and a glass of delightful champagne in her hand, and her wonderful, sexy man in front of her, Hailey Upton found out for the first time in her life what it was like to love a partner. She decided to go ahead and say it, such was the power of the moment.

"I love you, Jay. I hope you don't think it's too soon for me to say that?"

His face absolutely lit up, showing her exactly how much her words meant to him. "I've been thinking the same thing, Hailey, so no, it's not too soon at all. I love you too."

They walked into each other's arms and started kissing each other passionately. Their long, hard day was coming to a perfect end.

* * *

President Burgess' first official trip out of the White House was of a fairly secretive nature, at least as far as the world at large were concerned. The media had not, and would not be briefed on it.

Hailey Upton knew what was happening, of course. The president would be travelling via Marine One, the helicopter designated for her use, to the nearby Andrews Air Force Base. The reason for the trip was to meet the families of the eleven American medics who were missing in Syria. A mission to rescue any who were still alive in the camp where at least six of them had been held was going to be undertaken that night. As yet, the families had no idea. That was soon going to change, with Burgess herself giving them the news. The president doing that job was a piece of theatre that wasn't truly necessary, but it would mean something to the families.

Following the president towards the awaiting helicopter, sitting with its rotors spinning, ready to take off the moment the commander-in-chief was safely aboard, Upton found herself thinking that this was the first political act that she agreed with Burgess on. Actually, she thought of it more as a humanitarian act than a political one. There were innocent Americans out there in need of someone to rescue them. It was the right thing to do.

But she also knew there was another aspect to ordering the mission to go ahead. Burgess was ordering Delta Force into combat, which meant putting their lives at risk. Those men or women could be injured or killed, and that would weigh heavily on anyone with a conscience.

With no media around to shout questions, Burgess walked right up to the helicopter, saluted the two military men at the bottom of the steps, and continued up into the helicopter. Upton wasn't far behind her, ascending the second set of steps near to the back of the chopper, along with Jay Halstead and a couple of other Secret Service agents. General Boden had followed Burgess up the main set of steps, which were exclusively for the use of dignitaries.

President Burgess and General Boden sat together, with the agents far enough away to give them a bit of privacy.

In short order, the helicopter took off on its short journey to Andrews. It would only take a matter of minutes to get there. Upton was sat opposite Halstead, but they didn't say anything to each other. The president was in conversation nearby, so it wasn't acceptable for them to be chattering in the background.

Upton heard General Boden make a call. He told the person on the other end, apparently a Colonel Briggs, to hold for the president.

Burgess then got on the phone, and Upton heard her talking to the colonel about the mission that he was soon going to command.

"Colonel, there may be as many as eleven American citizens in that camp. I want your men to bring every one you find back with you, no matter their condition."

There was the Burgess stridency again, Upton noted. She wasn't going to have any half measures on this thing. Whoever the Syrian rebels were, they would be having a very bad night in the not too distant future.

Moments after Burgess finished her call with Colonel Briggs, the helicopter landed at Andrews. Briefed ahead of time, Upton knew that a selected group of the missing medics' family members and loved ones had been flown in, and would be waiting in a hangar to be addressed. They didn't know that it would be the president who would be doing the addressing.

As ever, when members of the public were in reasonable close contact with the president, it was Upton's job to stick closer to her. It was obviously highly unlikely that someone would respond to Burgess saying 'We're going to rescue your family' by trying to kill her, but all eventualities had to be allowed for, no matter how outlandish they were.

The helicopter landed a short distance away from the hangar in question. As the steps lowered, Upton made sure to get close to Burgess in order to speak to her.

"Ma'am, once we've disembarked, I'll walk with you to the hanger. I'll be close to you at all times until we're back on-board."

"Is that necessary, Hailey?" Burgess asked as she buttoned up her long black coat. Next came the black leather gloves that she always relied on when going out in the cold, unless running was on the agenda. To Upton, the question had sounded more like it came from a position of interest than one of contradiction.

"I seriously doubt it, Madam President. But it is prudent, and prudent is what we do."

Burgess nodded, seeming to respect the answer. With that, they got off the helicopter and walked towards the hangar. Upton walked on one side of the president, with Boden on the other.

"Madam President, if it's okay with you I'll go in first and say a few words, then I'll introduce you," the general said. "That will be their first nice surprise of the night. I think the one you're going to give them will be even better."

"We'll do it your way, General. It'll give me a minute to decide how I want to say what I need to say to them."

No speech writer this time, Upton thought. It would be interesting to see what Burgess came up with by herself.

The entrance door on the side of the hangar didn't open right into the main body of it. There was a corner to walk around to get there, which was perfect for Burgess to wait out of sight as the general went through to address the waiting audience.

Upton heard some questions being called out to Boden as soon as people saw him. They wanted to know what they were doing in a cold hangar on a Wednesday evening. And they wanted to know if there was any news on their missing loved ones.

To Upton's surprise, she saw Burgess looking uneasy, maybe even a bit nervous. Although it wasn't strictly appropriate, she decided to say something.

"Madam President, I know ordering men into battle can't be easy, but you're doing the right thing. A country should take care of its own. Those medics should get to come home."

"Thank you, Hailey. That's exactly what they are going to do. They are going to come home."

Out in the hangar, General Boden was making his introduction for Burgess. "To give you today's news, it is my privilege to introduce the President of the United States, Kim Burgess."

Upton walked with the president out into the hanger as applause with more than a hint of surprise in it began. Needless to say, people hadn't expected Burgess to be there. The family members were sat in a group, on steel chairs. Several Air Force personnel stood around, on guard, Upton knew. At the front of the group was a simple wooden lectern, which Burgess walked over to. Upton stood a few feet behind her, just to her right.

The applause faded, and expectant faces looked at the president.

"Good evening," Burgess began. "The reason you're all here, as you may well have discovered by talking to each other while you waiting, is that you are the family and loved ones of the eleven American medics who are missing in Syria. Our intelligence services have identified a camp, and have learned that at least six of the eleven were taken there after being captured. We think it is possible that all eleven were taken there. Unfortunately we do not have information to confirm that the captives are alive and well. However, the reason I'm here speaking to you tonight is that in less than two hours from now, a rescue mission is going to be undertaken, using troops for Delta Force."

"Thank you! Thank you!" a woman shouted as the group began applauding again.

"I can't guarantee we're going to find all of your loved ones in that camp, and I can't guarantee that those we do find will be alive. But I can tell you this: I have spoken to the mission's commander personally, and he assured me that he will be the first to set foot on the ground in that camp when Delta Force arrive, and he will be the last to step off. And I told him to leave no American behind."

Upton found herself as caught up in the moment as the rest of the audience, with goosebumps coming up on her arms. Burgess truly was a powerful and emotional speaker. She couldn't imagine how the audience felt.

"Dead, or alive, they will all come home together," Burgess vowed solemnly.

Upton saw many people with tears in their eyes as they began clapping again. She didn't regret voting against Burgess back on election day, but she was now of the opinion that she was working for a real leader. Maybe that was what the country had needed after all?


	17. Chapter 17

"ETA two minutes," one of the advisors at the table in the White House situation room called out.

Hailey Upton, like everyone else in the room, had her attention on the video screen at the far end of the room from where she was standing. President Burgess was in her seat at the head of the table, looking nervous. That was understandable, Upton thought. She was minutes away from putting American troops on the ground in a foreign country. There might be injuries or deaths, and that would weigh heavily on any commander-in-chief's conscience.

"Are we going to be able to tell what's going on once they're on the ground?" Burgess asked General Boden, who was sitting to her immediate right.

"Madam President, each of our men's cameras has a night vision capability, as we see on the screen. To answer your question, visibility will be low once they're on the ground, and things will be happening quickly. We'll be able to hear comms from Colonel Briggs, but it will still likely be tough to keep track of the situation. We'll be relying on Colonel Briggs to do that for us. He'll get the team in and out with the utmost efficiency."

"Let's hope those medics are there," Burgess said quietly to no one in particular.

Upton was certainly hoping. Undertaking the mission was without doubt the right thing to have done in her opinion, but there was a possible outcome that would involve American servicemen dead and no medics rescued. If that happened, the media would slaughter Burgess when the news broke. Such were the pressures of the most powerful job in the world.

"Thirty seconds."

Upton felt the tension increasing. She imagined that the military men like Boden would have rather been among those about to drop into the camp rather than watching from thousands of miles away.

Then things started happening fast. The screen showed two camera feeds, one from Colonel Briggs, and the other from the leader of the team in the second helicopter, a Sergeant Rhodes.

As the action unfolded, it became apparent that almost, if not all of the rebels in the camp had been asleep, having only just been woken up by the arriving helicopters. Upton saw men rushing out of tents, being cut down by American gunfire before they could even assess the situation, let alone respond to it. It was the perfect start to the operation.

The helicopters roared off into the air. It was too dangerous to have them sitting in the middle of the camp during the battle, for if they got damaged the Delta Force teams would be stranded in the middle of the Syrian desert.

"Spread out! Start clearing these tents!" Briggs ordered his team, his comms coming through to the situation room. Gunfire could be heard in the background.

The night vision camera didn't provide a great visual, as Boden had warned, but Upton could just about tell what was going on. Briggs led the way into a tent, killed a rebel who had been late reacting to the attack that was underway, and set about clearing it. In the background, more gunfire could be heard, as well as screams from someone who was wounded.

The team's communications to Briggs didn't come through to the situation room, but his next words sent a chill through the room as he relayed some information.

"We have a man down! Man down!"

"Oh my god," Burgess breathed.

It became apparent that it was one of Rhodes' men. They saw him and another soldier dragging the injured man into a tent where they could work on him under cover. When she got her first good look at the situation, Upton could see enough to know that there wasn't much point. There was a bullet wound in his neck, with blood gushing out despite someone trying to put pressure on it. In a matter of moments, the wounded man lay perfectly still. Upton knew a dead man when she saw one.

The same conclusion was drawn by Rhodes, who relayed it to Briggs, who confirmed it to the helicopter crews circling the camp, and to the Situation Room.

"Lewis is down. He's dead. No other injuries to report. All resistance appears to have been put down, with one more tent left to clear. No sign of any medics."

Looking at Burgess, Upton truly felt for her. She was sitting with her head in her hands, obviously distraught at having lost one of the troops, and having witnessed him dying on the screen.

"Madam President, he knew the risks going in," Boden said, attempting consolation. "None of those men hesitated for a moment to take this..."

"We have prisoners!" Briggs called out, drawing everyone's full attention back to the screen. At first it was hard to make out what he was looking at in the pitch black tent he had entered. Thankfully, he narrated for them. "We have prisoners locked in tiny cages! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven people! Are you American?" he called out to the prisoners.

"Yes!" a man's voice called out weakly. "Help us. We need water, and food."

"Are you medics?" Briggs asked as his men started trying to free people.

"Yes. Yes, we all are. Get us out of here!"

"We're here to do exactly that," Briggs said. "We're here to take you home."

* * *

Later that night, after the operation was over, President Burgess walked into the Oval Office with Hank Voight, and unusually, Adam Ruzek as well. As ever, Upton was on hand, virtually unnoticed.

As soon as the door closed behind Voight, Burgess burst into tears. Upton had seen that building up in her even since the Delta Force man named Lewis had been pronounced dead.

"Hey, it's okay. It's okay," Ruzek said, embracing his wife and trying to console her. Moments earlier, he had been told what had happened over in Syria.

"No it's not okay," she gasped. "I sent that man into that camp. He was killed on the mission I ordered."

"He gave his life for his country," Voight said. "And he helped to rescue seven Americans from captivity. I know military men, and I can tell you if you had told Lewis that would be the outcome before the helicopters took off, he would still have gone."

"But what of his family?" Burgess said tearfully, trying to get control of herself. "I asked Boden to find out Lewis' situation, and a wife has just lost a husband. A ten year old girl has just lost a father. I never should have ordered that mission."

"Yes, you should," Upton blurted out. It wasn't her place to speak, but she couldn't help it. The night's emotions were effecting her too. Everyone looked at her, leaving her no option but to continue. "Ma'am, seven innocent people, who looked like they were being held in barbaric conditions, are coming home thanks to you having the courage to order that mission. If you hadn't, they would probably all have died in captivity."

"She's right," Ruzek said, releasing his embrace now that Burgess had been able to regain her composure. "I know this hurts, and it's right to grieve the man who was lost. But that doesn't change the fact that going ahead with the mission was the right thing to do."

"I guess I'll see that in time," Burgess sighed. "Right now, it's probably best if you leave me to it. I've got a letter to write."

"Alright, I'll see you upstairs when you're done. Love you."

"Love you too," Burgess said, and they gave each other a peck on the lips.

"Goodnight, Madam President," Voight said. Upton could tell that seeing Burgess upset had upset him too. She imagined not many things did that to him, so it showed how close to her he was.

"Goodnight, Hank."

As the two men left, Burgess went over to her desk and Upton returned to her familiar status as a human ornament, standing against the wall.

Watching on, Upton saw Burgess take a sheet of the special presidential headed paper out of her desk drawer, and the infamous gold fountain pen out of her jacket pocket. She looked to Upton like one of the saddest people in the world as she started to write a letter to the wife of the deceased soldier. Anyone who said Kim Burgess was a heartless monster was wrong. Way wrong.

"I can't imagine how awful it must be," Burgess said a few minutes later, speaking in a quiet, upset voice.

"Madam President?" Upton asked.

"At some point tonight, Adele Lewis is going to get a visit from someone from the army. They're going to tell her that Jack is dead, and her world is going to collapse around her in an instant."

Upton grimaced. "Yes, ma'am, it is."

There was nothing else to be said. It was an awful tragedy, upsetting for all involved. Personally, Upton wanted to get the hell off her shift and head home with Jay. Her man would make her feel better. He always did.

* * *

"A rough night then? Everyone looked pretty downcast when you came out of the Situation Room," Halstead said. Handing Upton a glass of wine, he sat down next to her on their couch.

Upton gratefully took a big hit from her glass the moment it was in her hand. She hadn't said much during the drive home. "One of the Delta Force troops was killed, shot in the neck. It was pretty harrowing to watch him die. It got to me, and it got to Burgess too. She broke down when we got back into the Oval. Ruzek had to comfort her."

"Really? You wouldn't have thought she would be capable of that kind of reaction."

"She does care, Jay. The most upsetting thing is thinking about the guy's wife and his young daughter. I think that's going to trouble me for a while."

Halstead put an arm around her and cuddled up to her. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. He was comforting her, and it was helping.

"Did they at least rescue any of the medics?" he asked eventually.

"Yes, seven of them. There was no sign of the other four. It was a good outcome. If only the soldier hadn't been killed, it would have been so much better. Jay, what if it's me or you in that situation one day, losing the other so suddenly?"

Halstead kissed her on the forehead. "That's not going to happen."

"You don't know that, not with the job we do."

"No, you're right," he admitted after a moment. "But you can't go through life being scared of every possibility. We're here together now, that's what matters. I love you."

Upton leaned in towards him and kissed him passionately. "I love you too," she said after the kiss. "Make sure you never forget that."

"I won't," Halstead promised.


	18. Chapter 18

"These are the actions, yet again, of a reckless president. We've had American troops on the ground, killing citizens of a foreign country that we're not at war with, and we've lost an American life in the process. Burgess needs to be called out..."

"Turn it off, for God's sake," Upton said in annoyance. Sitting at the breakfast bar, she was glaring at the big TV in the living room.

Sitting next to her, Halstead obliged, using the remote control to turn off the TV, distancing them from the wall to wall negativity of the mainstream media breakfast news shows in regards to the previous night's mission in Syria. There had barely been a mention of the seven medics whose lives had been saved. Instead they chose to spin the mission to make Burgess sound like she had gone rogue, ordering innocent people to be slaughtered and getting troops killed while she was at it.

"You know, it wasn't long ago that I'd have been believing that crap they're spouting," Jay said.

"Me too, probably," Hailey agreed. "Now I'm realising that no matter what Burgess does, the media will try to make her look bad. She could find a cure for cancer and they'd say it was overpriced and not effective enough."

"Listen to us. A pair of Burgess converts already."

"Oh, there's plenty I disagree with her on. I'm just not going to sit here and listen to people who haven't made an important decision in their lives dragging her through the mud for making one correctly."

"I hear that," Jay said. He spent a minute finishing off a slice of toast, then changed the subject. "I was talking to Roman Reigns yesterday. He came by briefly while you were in the Oval. He asked if we'd be interested in going for drinks one night with him and Amanda Rose."

Hailey looked at him for a second over her coffee cup. "Rose? The White House chef?"

"The very same. Apparently he's been wanting to ask her out, but he thinks she won't go for it unless it's a double date."

She put down the cup and eyed him carefully. "Are you telling me you agreed we'd go on a double date with two people, neither of whom we know?"

Jay considered the question. "Yeah, that's about the size of it," he decided. "I felt like I had to help the guy out. Besides, it's a chance for us to go on a date, double or no. And the fact that we don't know them doesn't mean we won't like them."

"I guess that's true," Hailey said thoughtfully. "Okay, let's do it."

"Great. I'll arrange something with him today."

Hailey looked at him with a crafty smile. "If nothing else, it's an excuse to buy something new to wear."

Jay laughed. "Now the agenda comes out."

* * *

Arriving for work, Upton learned that President Burgess was having breakfast with Mr Ruzek. Proceeding up the stairs to the residence, she formally took over from the night shift.

"Have a good day," she said to Jay, giving his hand a little squeeze before they parted ways. As usual, he would stand guard outside the room while she went in.

"You too," he said.

That's likely going to depend on what the mood is like in here, Upton thought. A day of upset wasn't what she needed. The previous night had been bad enough in that regard. On the way in, she nodded to Roman Reigns, who was standing just outside the open door.

When she walked into the dining room, she saw that Burgess and Ruzek had just finishing their meal and first coffee of the day. They were talking, and seemed happy enough. It was a good start.

"Good morning, ma'am, sir," Upton said, effectively reporting for duty. "Would you like me to wait outside and give you some privacy?"

"Morning, Hailey," Burgess said with a cursory smile. "No, you're okay. We're done, and we've both got busy days to start."

"Indeed," Ruzek said as they both got up from the table. They walked around to meet each other at the head of it, and exchanged a kiss.

"I hope the deal works out," Burgess said, referring to some business venture or other.

"Me too. Remember, ignore the negativity from the media. What happened last night was a good thing, okay?"

Burgess smiled. "I've been ignoring them for a couple of years already. It's a bit harder when you have to do a press conference and field questions, though."

"You'll put them in their place. You always do."

With another peck on the lips, Ruzek left to go about his business.

"Madam President, do you mind if I ask how the seven medics are?" Upon said.

"They're all in pretty rough shape. They were being held in cages barely big enough to fit a person, let alone give them room to move. It must have been hell. They weren't given enough food or water, but five of them are well enough to fly home. I understand they'll be landing at Andrews tomorrow. Two others are in hospital at the base we launched the rescue mission from. They'll be brought home when they're well enough to survive the journey."

"Sounds like the mission happened just in time," Upton said, relieved. She couldn't imagine what those poor people had gone through, but at least they were alive.

"Just in time for seven of them. Too late for the other four," Burgess said sadly. "Or, at least three of the other four. I'm told the survivors are all male. They have revealed that three female medics were held in the camp too. They were repeatedly gang raped before eventually being murdered. We think the bodies are buried somewhere in the desert, so they'll likely never be found. We have no idea where the one medic who is unaccounted for might be."

"How awful," Upton said, shaking her head. No one deserved to die like that, least of all people who had flown to the country to volunteer their services to try and keep other innocent people alive during a war.

"Yes. At least justice was served. Our guys killed everyone in that camp apart from the medics. If only we hadn't lost Jack Lewis. His body will be arriving back at Andrews tomorrow. I'm going to be there to pay my respects, so you may want to make arrangements."

Upton nodded, pleased but not surprised to hear that the gesture was going to be made. "Yes, ma'am. Once we get to the Oval, I'll have Agent Halstead to inform our superiors."

"Okay then, let's go."

* * *

The next day, the negative media coverage of President Burgess continued. Upton was thoroughly disgusted by the almost total lack of mention of the seven lives that had been saved, with the commentary instead focussing on the loss of Jack Lewis, and on what some so-called experts were calling an illegal invasion. It was clear to Upton that it was going to be an all out assault on Burgess every day for the next four years, no matter whether what she was doing was right or wrong. That kind of treatment was unfair, and it was wrong.

Apart from the morning run, the day had been spent in the White House. Burgess had been in meetings and on phone calls regarding what little remained of the protests across the country, something Upton felt she did merit strong criticism for. The resistance had almost been stamped out now, under the boots of the Nation Guard and a police force newly-emboldened by the Burgess administration.

"It won't be long now before we can declare the first night free from rioting across the whole country since you took office," Zelina Vega had proudly advised the president.

"Good. That will be our first objective achieved," Burgess had said. "Let's get it done, then we can focus our efforts onto fixing the economy."

More immediately, the president's priority had been to get to Andrews Air Force Base to pay her respects when the body of Jack Lewis was brought home on a Globemaster C- 17 transport plane. As ever, Upton had overheard the conversations regarding the matter, and had learned the Colonel Briggs, the man who had been in command of the rescue mission, would also be on-board.

Military precision, literally, Upton thought as Marine One landed at Andrews. Out of the window, she could see that the enormous C-17 was parked nearby, with the ramp at its back end just starting to lower.

The base's lights made the area they were in as bright as day even though the sun had long since set, making it no problem for her to see a small line of military personnel waiting to meet President Burgess. A hearse also stood waiting. One of the men started walking towards the helicopter.

Standing up, Burgess began putting on a smart black coat, befitting the sombre occasion. The familiar leather gloves came next.

"Ma'am, I just want to say I think this is the right thing you're doing," Upton ventured. "I'm glad it gives me a chance to pay my respects, too."

Burgess nodded. Support from a Secret Service agent wasn't required of course, but Upton had been speaking on a human level. "Hailey, the man gave his life for our country, for our people. I think the president showing up to honour him when he returns home is the least he deserves. I'd like to attend the funeral too, but that's Mrs Lewis's decision."

That's going above and beyond what even a president might be expected to do, Upton thought with a smile. It wasn't all good, though. Her first instinct was to worry about security problems. Any time the president mingled with the public was a major headache. That was a concern for another day, though, if Burgess even ended up attending the funeral. Right now it was time for her to get out of the helicopter and meet the military people who were waiting for her.

Upton followed close behind as Burgess was greeted by the brigadier who was in charge at Andrews, and was then introduced to the other personnel who were there to be pallbearers for Lewis' casket. The president was polite to everyone, but Upton knew Briggs was the one she really wanted to meet. He was waiting inside the belly of the plane, beside the casket.

As they walked up the ramp into the plane, Upton got her first look at Briggs. He was around forty-five, she guessed, head shaved bald, and he was built like the side of a house, without having any fat on him at all. A man not to be fucked with. But then a man in charge of a Delta Force team was hardly likely to be.

"Madam President, this is Colonel Dale Briggs," the brigadier said.

Standing ramrod straight to attention, Briggs gave a textbook perfect salute. Burgess showed respect by saluting him in return.

"Good to meet you, Briggs. If only the circumstances were better. Thank you for carrying out the mission, and for recusing those seven men."

"An honour to meet you, Madam President. And thank you for coming. I know Lewis would be honoured, too," Briggs said.

"I figured it was the least I could do. You guys were out there putting your lives on the line to carry out my order. All I had to do was hop in a helicopter and fly a few miles up the road. My prayers have been with you, and Mr Lewis's family."

"Thank you, Madam President. And on behalf of Adele Lewis I would like to thank you for the letter you sent to her. I spoke to her on the phone when we landed here, and she told me she was touched and humbled by your kind words. If possible, she would like to thank you personally."

"She has nothing to thank me for, but I can definitely reach out and make a conversation happen."

"I truly appreciate it, Madam President," Briggs said sincerely.

After another couple of minutes of conversation, Upton followed Burgess and the brigadier back down the ramp. It was time for Briggs and the other pallbearers to do their work.

Standing off to one side, beside Burgess, Upton watched on with sadness as the casket draped in an American flag was carried slowly down the ramp. She found herself imagining herself in Adele Lewis's position, if it was Jay who had been killed. The pain was more than she could comprehend.

As the casket passed by, Burgess and the brigadier saluted to pay respect to the fallen soldier. Upton wasn't sure if she was supposed to join in or pretend that she wasn't there. On balance, she decided to err on the side of being respectful, and saluted.

Sneaking a glance at Burgess, Upton saw that the death of Lewis hadn't done anything to damage the iron will she had shown in ordering the rescue mission. She had no doubt that the same decision, the right decision, would be made again, and that was a very positive thing to see in a commander-in-chief.


	19. Chapter 19

Hailey Upton was ending her day sitting with her legs curled up on the couch, with her man's arms around her. There was a comedy show on the TV, but her attention currently wasn't on it.

"Jay, there's something that has been on my mind. It didn't occur to me this morning. I guess I wasn't fully awake yet."

"What's that?" Halstead asked.

"You said Roman Reigns asked us out on a double date. We didn't tell anyone but Burgess we were dating."

"Hailey, he's the primary agent to the First Gentleman of the United States. I doubt we've tested his powers of observation to their limits. I mean, you squeezed my hand right in front him this morning without thinking about it. How many other times have we done something like that or shared a look that he could have picked up on?"

"I guess you're right," she admitted. Secret Service agents were not exactly the ideal group of people to try and be secretive around. If the roles had been reversed, she was confident that she would have figured Reigns out.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like we're doing anything wrong. Roman clearly didn't think so, or I doubt he would have asked us on a double date."

Upton decided she agreed with him. So Reigns knew they were dating. So what? "Did you make arrangements with him?"

"I did. We're on for Friday night. I know that's not going to give you a chance to go out and shop for the new dress you wanted."

"I'm way ahead of you. I've already ordered one. It should come in tomorrow."

"Oh, really?" he smiled. "In that case I can't wait to see what you've got. You're going to look stunning."

She gave him one of her best smiles. "I will. The dress I ordered was quite expensive. I figure if Reigns has half a brain, he'll be lining up somewhere upmarket. I mean, where the hell do you take the person who cooks for the president for dinner?"

Jay laughed. "Thankfully, that's not my problem."

* * *

"Good morning, Madam President," Upton said as she walked in the Oval Office. It was the first time she had found her protectee already working when she had showed up for duty. Burgess was the only one in the room, sitting at her desk.

"Morning, Hailey. I was up early today, and there's a lot to get done. All set for our run a bit later?"

"Yes, ma'am. Just give me a bit of notice so I can step out and get changed."

"Will do," Burgess said, demonstrating her ability to have a conversation and read reports at the same time. "I had someone reach out to Mrs Lewis last night."

Upton was a little surprised that the information was being shared with her, but she knew from training and past experience that protectees could sometimes use their Secret Service agents as a much-needed impartial person to talk to. She was happy to listen and engage, but her job required her to avoid offering advice or giving her own opinions too strongly.

"How did that go?" she asked.

"It went well. I'm told she's a brave, strong woman. She also campaigned for me during the election process, apparently. The original plan was to get her on the phone with me, but instead we're having her come to the White House tomorrow."

"Well, that'll be interesting," Upton said. She hoped Burgess wasn't simply using it as a PR opportunity. Based on what she had seen so far since Jack Lewis had been killed, she doubted it. The grief and compassion she had shown had been genuine.

"Yes. It will be good to be able to pass on my condolences in person. We're also starting to make plans for my first foreign visit. Pretty much the only major country whose leader didn't openly favour Kelton during the election was the UK, so that's where we'll be going. The others will have to come here to meet with me."

And there was the other side of Burgess, the dislikeable side, Upton thought. The leader of the most powerful country in the world shouldn't be holding petty grudges because of a bruised ego. Any country needed allies, and alliances didn't come about as a result of a schoolyard 'but you insulted me' attitude.

But Burgess' behaviour wasn't Upton's problem. And in any case, there was good news in what the president had just said. Hailey had never been to the UK before, and she very much looked forward to being able to go with Jay, even though there probably wouldn't be a chance to see any sights. The trip would also mean her first chance to fly on Air Force One, which was something else to look forward to. There would be plenty to talk about later when they got home, she thought.

* * *

"One day it will be warm enough to sit out here," Hailey said.

"One day. But not today," Jay said beside here.

They were standing on their balcony, looking out across the Washington skyline and drinking their first glass of wine of the night. Unfortunately, there was a real chill in the air, somewhat detracting from the experience.

"So, I was talking to Roman earlier," Jay said. "After we left last night, Ruzek arrived back at the White House. He and Burgess decided to have a late dinner. Amanda started doing the prep for it, then Burgess showed up in the kitchen and insisted on taking over. Said something about president or not, she wanted to make dinner for her husband."

Upton drank some of her wine, savouring the taste. "Must have been awkward for Rose. She could hardly tell the president 'get the hell out of my kitchen', could she?"

Jay laughed. "No. But I can see it from Burgess's point of view. It must be hard to leave your home, or I guess I should say homes, behind as well as your daily routine. Pretty much her every move is planned and organised for her ahead of time. I don't know if I could live like that."

"No, now that you've said it, I don't think I could either. Let's go in, Jay, it's freezing out here."

Getting no argument from him, Hailey followed him inside and closed the French doors behind her.

"Speaking of things being organised," she said. "Burgess told me her first overseas visit is in the works. We'll be going to the UK. I'm really looking forward to it, although we likely won't be able to see any sights while we're there."

"Shame, it's really nice over there."

"You've been?" Hailey asked with some surprise as they sat down on the couch.

Jay drank some of his wine. "Yeah, a few years ago. I went with Will, my brother. It was only for a week, but I enjoyed it. The cities can be a bit rough, like anywhere else in the world. Out in the country, though, it's gorgeous. One day, we should go on our own time."

"One day," she smiled. "I love dreaming, Jay. And it's so easy with you."

He took her hand and squeezed it affectionately. "From balconies, to Europe. I'll make all of your dreams come true."

Hailey nearly spat her wine in laughter at his deliberately corniness. "Oh, really? You'll make all my dreams come true?"

"Put that wine glass down and I'll show you."

Not needing to be told twice, Hailey put her glass on the coffee table, where Jay had left his. With that, she practically pounced on him, and they started kissing passionately.

* * *

The morning after a night of hot love making had unsurprisingly seen Upton in a very good mood. Even a three mile run in the cold with President Burgess hadn't dampened her spirits.

Burgess' afternoon was to be spent entirely in the Oval Office. It had started with a meeting with several people to talk economic strategy. Upton hadn't even listened to most of it, fearful that it might have bored her to sleep. By contrast, Burgess seemed to have been in her element. Finance was something that interested her a lot, evidently.

The second item on the afternoon's agenda promised to be more interesting from Upton's point of view. Adele Lewis was coming in to see the president.

When the time came, it was chief of staff Voight who walked in first. Behind him was a tall, attractive blonde woman who looked to be in her mid to late thirties. She was wearing a smart black sleeveless dress that showed off quite muscular arms. Mrs Lewis was in good shape to say the least.

"Madam President, may I introduce Mrs Adele Lewis?" Voight said.

"Mrs Lewis, I'm incredibly sorry for your loss," Burgess said as she came around her desk, offering a handshake. The sentiment was heartfelt, Upton know.

"I'm honoured to meet you, Madam President. And thank you. Your kind words in your letter meant so much to me." These words too, spoken in a southern accent, were heartfelt. Mrs Lewis seemed a little awed to meet the president, but the handshake looked firm.

"Please, let's sit. May I call you Adele?" Burgess asked, motioning to the couches.

"Of course," Mrs Lewis said. The women sat down. "Ma'am, I want to thank you for inviting me to come here to meet with you. You didn't have to do that."

"It was the least I could do. Adele, your husband lost his life on a mission I ordered, and that doesn't sit lightly on my conscience."

From where Upton was standing, she was pretty much behind Mrs Lewis, and couldn't see her face. But the reassurance was evident in the visitor's voice.

"You have no reason to be regretful, Madam President. Jack told me what the mission was and why it had been ordered. It was absolutely the right decision, in his opinion and in mine. I served in the Marines, so believe me when I say I would have sacrificed my life on that mission if that's what it required. I know Jack would have gone if he knew he wouldn't have come back. His loss hurts me more than I can say. I have spent so much time crying since that night. But do I blame you for his death? Absolutely not. Do I wish you hadn't ordered that mission? No. The seven rescued medics you mentioned in your letter are all home and well?"

Holy shit, that's one brave woman, Upton thought. She didn't totally understand how Mrs Lewis could be so resolute over the death of her husband, but she damn sure respected it.

"Thank you for saying that," Burgess said sincerely. "And thank you for your service. You're a braver woman than I am. As for the seven medics, five have been flown back home, and have been reunited with their families. The remaining two are in hospital at the base we launched the rescue mission from. They were close to death when we got them out, but I'm told they're going to be okay in time."

"That's good news. Those people are alive because of my Jack, and the rest of the team. And because of you, Madam President. That's one of the reasons I campaigned hard for you during the election. I could tell you have the strength of character to do the right thing when tough decisions need to be made."

Burgess smiled. "I appreciate that, and thank you for your help on the campaign. Mr Voight told me that when you spoke to him you said you want to do something to help veterans?"

Mrs Lewis nodded. "That's right. I'm not sure exactly what yet, maybe a Jack Lewis Foundation or something."

"I do have an idea for you to consider," Burgess announced. "As you no doubt remember, one of my campaign pledges was to open a new department to look at improving care for our veterans."

"I remember, ma'am. What's the idea?"

"I want you to run it," Burgess said simply.

"But I'm not a politician," Mrs Lewis said, clearly surprised.

"Yes, I know," Burgess said. Her tone suggested that was entirely the point.


End file.
